Our church met in a congregational meeting on Tuesday, November 29 to hear some ministry reports and to look forward to ministry work in 2012. The three main decision made were:

Approving a budget for 2012
Our leadership proposed a budget to the voters that was based on a projected actual giving number for 2011, and after some questions and answers, the voters approved a balanced operating budget of $277,000 (+ about $50,000 in "In/Out" monies like mission donations and Fundscrip). This will allow us to do the work collectively as a church that we believe will be beneficial for our congregation and community in 2012.

The most significant point of this budget is that it is about $55,000 less than 2011's operating budget of ~$333,000. A primary reason for the reduction is that we cannot plan to re-staff the Director of Children and Youth Ministry position if our income levels stay at 2011 levels. Though our children's and youth ministry is very important, there is just no way to fund that position with our current income.

The full budget, and answers to any questions you may have, are available by contacting our office.

Electing Governing Team members to a new term
Five members of our congregation will have served one full one-year term as of Dec. 31, 2011 on our new Governing Team, which replaced our Parish Planning Council according to our new structure we developed this year. The work of transition continues, and the five members will continue to serve for one more year as we continue to get established in the new structure. At the end of 2012, some new members will come on board on staggered terms to provide continuity in leadership.

The five faithful members are Betty-Ann Bashuk (served as chair in 2011), Jim Beiderwieden, Michael Burghardt, Bernie Krey, and Chester Rempel.

Supporting the pastoral colloquy process for Michael Schutz
With the support of the voters, our Director of Worship and Discipleship, Michael Schutz, explored the process of becoming an ordained pastor. He and our leadership worked with our Synod's leaders and the seminary in Edmonton, who developed a program that would allow him to take courses over the next 18 months while still serving in his role here. Completing this program will allow Michael to serve as an ordained pastor beginning in early summer 2013. The voters passed a motion to joyfully support this process.

There is some cost in time and money to Michael, and the congregation will help support him by giving him a time allotment for ongoing study. There will be no financial support set aside within the budget in general, but anyone can help by making a targeted donation to the church's Continuing Education fund, which is set aside to assist workers in their further education. Just specify "Continuing Education" on your envelope, or talk with Jen Wagner, our Director of Finances, through our office.