July 2021
Council Corner
The council talked about a variety of subjects during our most recent meeting. Perhaps the most intriguing was the state of our annual budget approximately halfway through the current fiscal year. I am happy to report that Hope Lutheran is doing very well at this point. The amount of giving has stayed relatively steady during the pandemic and has allowed us to rebuild our savings to the tune of $23,000. In a small church, this is something that deserves celebration. I want to thank all of those who have maintained their level of giving during these difficult times. It is all because of you that we have improved our financial situation.
Next on the docket was the topic of filling a vacant council position. The position recently opened due to the resignation of one of our members. The current council discussed our options for filling this position and floated some possible names of replacements. While serving on the church council requires various responsibilities, we encourage eligible members of our congregation to step forward to fill this position. HLC is very fortunate to have a great group of people serving on the council. Please consider joining us!
Confirmation was also discussed during our meeting. Due to the strains of the pandemic, Hope Lutheran has decided to hold two different confirmation events in the upcoming months. The first will take place on July 18 while the second will take place sometime in October. I want to thank Lora Langowski for leading our confirmation students during this past year and for all of her efforts to keep the confirmands on track as they worked toward this momentous event.
The council was forced to make various changes to our confirmation program over the past year due to the ramifications of COVID-19. Most notably, we reduced the number of required volunteer hours and sermon notes from 20 to 10. Due to the lockdown nature of the pandemic, confirmands quite frankly did not have the opportunity to fulfill these numbers. However, as our country moves back to some semblance of “normal,” we felt that readjusting these numbers was necessary. Subsequently, the council decided to up the required service hours and sermon notes to 15. This move is not retroactive and will only affect confirmands from this date moving forward. If you have any questions, please ask a council member.
The topic then turned to maintenance. A few areas of our church need some attention. First, our refrigerator in the basement appears to be on its last legs. We decided to give the old refrigerator from the Pike church a test drive. If this does not work, we may need to buy a new one. Second, many of the nails on the handicap-accessible ramp are coming up or have their heads rusted off. This necessitates the maintenance team of Bill Krueth and Lance Kupka to spring into action. We will have this issue fixed by the time vacation bible school opens in mid-July. This also represents a great opportunity for any confirmands who would like to earn volunteer hours. Please let us know if you would be interested.
Finally, the council talked about mask requirements as they related to the VBS participants. We decided to follow the current church policy of wearing masks indoors while allowing them to go mask-free outside. This could change moving forward as the council reviews our current plan and makes changes when necessary. We will do our best to keep all of you updated. For those who follow this issue closely, the council is slowly moving toward the day when we gather in church without any masks in sight. Please be patient. Our church will get there.
May God grant you peace until we meet again next month…….
In God’s Name,
Lance Kupka
Council President
Hope Lutheran Church of Embarrass