February 2022
Council Corner
At our first council meeting of 2022, we approved the following congregation members to serve on our call committee: Tana Johnson, Lora Langowski, and Stan Dow, Jr. They will combine with the three members from Babbitt Evangelical Lutheran Church (BELC) to help us eventually find a new pastor to lead our respective churches. This group will soon meet with Deacon Brenda Tibbetts from the Northeast Minnesota Synod to start the process. I want to thank the three members of our church for stepping forward to serve. This is an exciting moment for HLC.
The council set our annual meeting date for February 13, 2022. At this meeting, we will discuss a variety of topics. First and foremost, three council positions will be up for election. Liisa Lamppa, Bill Krueth, and Lance Kupka have agreed to serve another two-year term. Of secondary note, a fourth council position will be open at this time. This is currently held by Sharon Kamppi who agreed to serve an open term until the annual meeting. Please do not hesitate to submit your name if interested in taking a place on the council. You would work with a great group of people.
Members approved a tentative budget for the 2022 fiscal year. We went through each line of our current budget with a fine-tooth comb and formulated a plan for the future that we feel will meet the needs of our church. Our overall amount of spending increased by just a shade over $100. Considering that Hope Lutheran’s part of the budget comes in at approximately $80,000, this is pretty impressive. The council looks forward to presenting this budget to members at our annual meeting next month. HLC has stayed within its budget for the past two years and looks forward to doing the same during the upcoming 12 months.
Finally, Pastor Birk proposed a monologue for the Lenten services. However, after discussion, we decided to use this monologue during our actual church services. We did something similar several years ago with Pastor Weston, and it turned out to be a rather enjoyable process. I anticipate the same results this time also. Please feel free to contact Pastor Birk if you are interested in taking part in this thespian journey.
May God grant you peace until we meet again next month…….
In God’s Name,
Lance Kupka
Council President
Hope Lutheran Church of Embarrass