Church Council

The Church Council has three main functions:

 1. Create policy to help the church set its vision for the future.

 2. Monitor results and compliance with those policies.

 3. Communicate with the congregation.

The Church Council attempts to do a good job with the first two items, but we fear that we do not do as well when it comes to communicating with the congregation. In an effort to correct this, we are going to institute a new procedure. During every month that has five Sundays, the Council will speak at each worship service that weekend to briefly update the congregation on what is happening.

In case you did not attend the Annual Congregational Meeting which was held on December 16, 2013, here are the highlights of that meeting.

The past year, 2013, was a unique year and it offered many challenges. The building project was completed but not without many complications that forced our building committee, architect, staff and Council to adjust the plans and bring it to what you see now. We are excited about the new facility as the new nurseries, restrooms, gathering space and youth room are all functioning extremely well. The Christian Life Center has hosted the Grand Opening Celebration, Advent by Candlelight and two concerts, most recently the Christmas concerts; and our audiences were very excited about the way the room was able to accommodate these events.

Pastor Koschmann received a call to a church in Illinois during 2013 and after prayerful consideration, he and his family decided to remain at St. Paul. We are very happy to have them remain with us.

Elections were held for Board of Elders and Church Council. We thank those members who served in these positions and welcome all new members to these positions, as well.

From the business side of things in 2013, our pledges were up for the year, but the actual offerings were 10% behind the planned budget year to date. This shortfall did affect ministry to a degree, but we feel that our staff still did a great job with the resources they had to work with. We do have to keep in mind that we still have our building fund which our members continue to maintain, so when you combine regular offerings with the building fund donations, St. Paul members have been extremely generous and we thank you for your continued support of the ministry here. Please remember that 1-1/2 years still remain in the Building Fund effort, and we pray that you continue to honor that commitment.

Looking at 2014, our Stewardship drive resulted in pledges that were $35,000 less than in 2013. Changes were made to the 2014 budget to accommodate this decrease and a balanced budget for 2014 was approved.

We hope that this report will bring the congregation into a more complete contact with your church. If you have any further questions or comments, please connect with the Church Council at ChurchCouncil@splconline.com.