March 2021
Council Corner
We have not held a regular council meeting since I last wrote to you about a month ago. However, Hope Lutheran did commence its 2021 annual meeting on February 14, 2021. Despite the bitter cold temperatures, the attendance for this gathering was rather impressive. This included people attending in person and those attending virtually. I want to thank all of those who chose to be a part of this deliberative process.
HLC said goodbye to an old council member, Chuck Hartline, and welcomed a new council member, Charisse Salo, to the fold. We will miss Chuck greatly. He took his job as a member of our body very seriously and worked very hard to understand comprehensively the issues that affected our church. Meanwhile, we will welcome Charisse back to the council after a multi-year absence. Perhaps it will be her who writes this column next month???
The Northeast Minnesota Synod Assembly will be held virtually this spring from April 30 to May 2. I want to thank the Dow family once again for volunteering to attend. This represents a great opportunity for those who choose to partake in a very unique learning experience and educate themselves on issues that affect not just Hope Lutheran, but also churches throughout our region. I strongly encourage all members of HLC to consider attending this event in the future.
Perhaps the most important part of the annual meeting took place upon the consideration of the 2021 budget. Our council went through great pains to craft a budget that met the needs of our church. We were extremely happy to report that many of the financial worries that hampered us in the past did not appear during this process. Hope Lutheran actually made it through the year 2020 while meeting our budget and actually added to our savings accounts. This represents a remarkable turnaround compared to the many lean budget years that we have faced in the past. Thank you to all the members of the congregation who made this happen. Let’s keep it up throughout 2021!
Finally, I wanted to thank Pastor Birk for coming aboard near the end of 2020. We learned so much about ourselves while going it alone without a pastor for over a year. However, I think that many of us would agree that it is sure nice to have a steady pastor at the helm once again.
May God grant you peace until we meet again next month…….
In God’s Name,
Lance Kupka
Council President
Hope Lutheran Church of Embarrass