Ascension Lutheran Church

Council Agenda

May 20, 2020 at 7:00 P.M.

CALL TO ORDER

WE BELIEVE - MISSION STATEMENT OF ASCENSION LUTHERAN CHURCH

Called to create opportunities for all people to become devoted followers of Christ.

MOTTO Invite — Grow — Serve

WELCOME & DEVOTIONS - Greg Korshavn

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

OPEN FORUM

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

1. April 15th

Council Meeting Minutes

2. April 30th

Special Council Meeting Minutes

CONSENT APPROVAL OF REPORTS TO COUNCIL

1. Administrator’s Report

2. Pastors’ Reports

Pastor Tim Delkeskamp

Pastor Steve Herder

Pastor Julie McCain

3. Youth Ministry Report

4. GMT Report

5. School Board Minutes

6. Life Group report

PRESENTATION OF TREASURER’S REPORT

OLD BUSINESS

1. MPIT ­ Update ­ Fundraising Calendar ­ Building Naming, Pavers

a. any possible decisions that need to be made …

b. At Risk Pledges and Fundraising

c. Donor Tree design ideas

2. Selling parcels on Erbes ­ Younkin Offer ­ MPIT authorization to solicit LOI/BID

a. Request from MPIT process steps, timeline and upfront costs…

3. School Board ­ Update on plans, budgets and principal search

4. Pastor Tim Assignment ­ Future Vision Stories/Accomplishments ­ NOTES from BRAINSTORM ­­ PT

Stories ­ Assignment was to review the affinity groups multi­vote for your top 5 items.

a. ECC Focus

i. Opening on time

ii. How to get ready

iii. Integrated with all of our other ministries

iv. Stories of Families

5. Julie’s Milestones, Incorporating the young and their families into the Life of the Church

6. Congregational Meeting Issues ­ Working with Synod on this ­ Update

7. Senior Pastor Review ­ Council Process… Not actual review. Will handle in EXEC. SESSION

NEW BUSINESS

1. Improving communication among groups and ministries…( ONLY if ready for discussion )

ACTION ITEMS (from Action Tracker)

1. 19­003 bylaw changes: Organization structure, Need Input from the S.B. on their preferred process

RECURRING BUSINESS (None due to Quarantine)

1. Approve New Members

2. Affirm Baptisms

INFORMATION ITEMS

1. The next council meeting is @ 7pm, June 17, 2020

2. Devotions ­ JUNE ­ Debra Papageorge

CLOSING PRAYER

EXECUTIVE SESSION

ADJOURNMENT

Ascension Lutheran Church Council Agenda

April 15, 2020 at 7:00 P.M.

CALL TO ORDER Council members in attendance:

Doug Morrow, Peter Swavely, Carol, Bjelland, Susie Shore, Debby Papageorge, Greg Korshavn, Steve Smuck, Jeremy Hofer

Others in attendance: Pastor Tim, Pastor Steve, Pastor Julie, Creighton Van Horn, Bob Woodward, Kaylee Searway WE BELIEVE - MISSION STATEMENT OF ASCENSION LUTHERAN CHURCH

Called to create opportunities for all people to become devoted followers of Christ. MOTTO Invite — Grow — Serve WELCOME - DEVOTIONS/REFRESHMENTS - Carol Bjelland APPROVAL OF AGENDA Peter moved to approve the agenda. Greg seconded. Approved. OPEN FORUM: None APPROVAL OF MINUTES

1. MARCH Council Meeting Minutes Susie moved to approve the March Council Meeting minutes. Carol seconded. Approved.

2. Amended February Council Meeting Minutes Information only.

CONSENT APPROVAL OF REPORTS TO COUNCIL Greg moved to approve the consent items. Peter seconded. Approved.

1. Administrator’s Report 2. Pastors’ Reports

Pastor Tim Delkeskamp Pastor Steve Herder Pastor Julie McCain

3. Youth Ministry Report 4. GMT Report 5. Worship Committee 6. School Board Minutes 7. Life Group report

Carol asked if we know the number of life groups. Pastor Tim said he will have an update for the next council meeting.

PRESENTATION OF TREASURER’S REPORT Carol moved to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Susie seconded. Approved. Jeremy’s treasurer’s report had two parts. Part 1: the current financial statement of the church is down $40,368. The deficit was $47,000 as of Monday. April 13th. This was offset by savings of $41,000. Through March the average offering was $24,000. March 15-April 12 the offering was $20,400. March 29th was $8685. If we project $22,000 per week to the end of the fiscal year it would create a deficit of $79,000 which is offset by the $41,000 savings. The church reserve is $64,000. Part 2: Next year’s budget. The finance committee is working on budget projections for the next fiscal year. The church’s loan is being paid back with interest only through February 2012. Then P & I for the remainder of 2021. OLD BUSINESS

1. MPIT - Update - Fundraising Calendar - Building Naming, Pavers a. any possible decisions that need to be made (Glass) … b. At Risk Pledges and Fundraising c. Donor Tree design ideas Re-enforce Brick sales end May 31– videos and testimonials shown in church orders not in line with $200K in sales, will struggle to hit 500 units

Delay naming rights dinner to weekend around Grand Opening, but solicit some via e-mail and phone conversations before then

Send business donation requests out two month prior to Grand Opening – (This may not work in this climate)

Unveil Donor Wall concept at Grand Opening – start drive to complete the Donor Wall by end of 2021

2. Selling parcels on Erbes - Younkin Offer - MPIT authorization to solicit LOI/BID

Request from MPIT process steps, timeline and upfront costs... MPIT is in discussion on Letter of Intent to sell the land which should net $1.0Million - $1.2 Million. Pending council and congregational approval.

Creighton reported that they could have a Letter of Intent (LOI) ready for the May council meeting.

After discussion, Peter made the motion to authorize Creighton and Bob to pursue a LOI with Mr. Younkin. Debby seconded and the motion was approved.

3. Pastor Tim Vision Statement

a. Explanation and Action Pastor Tim reported that the ALCS school board is struggling with the TK-8 school and how it will look next year. PT mentioned the Easter sermon- We don’t want to go back to normal. It is times like this that people expect change. We want to reverse the trend of declining attendance. We want to hit and measure goals.

PT said that there are four areas that he wants to focus on: Life groups, A generosity push, teach people how to be generous, The Early Childhood Center (ECC,) Worship

4. Pastor Tim Assignment - Future Vision Stories/Accomplishments - NOTES from BRAINSTORM -- PT

Stories - Assignment was to review the affinity groups multi-vote for your top 5 items. a. ECC Focus

i. Opening on time ii. How to get ready

iii. Integrated with all of our other ministries iv. Stories of Families

1. Julie’s Milestones, Incorporating the young and their families into the Life of the Church

There will be a task force meeting plan for the school board. The question was asked, What power does the school board have to make changes in the school configuration?” There will be a special council meeting on Wednesday, April 21st to consider the school boards proposal.

5. COVID-19 Response

a. Pastor Tim and Staff will continue to handle issues and policy decisions b. Attendance and measurements of on-line presence.

Kaylee said that online worship attendance has gone up significantly. She also reported that the church has applied for a CARES loan to help with salaries.

The CARES amount is equal to 2.5 times monthly payroll costs

This loan is forgivable if funds used for payroll costs and employee headcount stays intact (within 20%) of existing payroll.

6. Congregational Meeting Issues - Working with Paul Gravrock on this.

Pastor Gravrock thinks that we can work out having the congregational meeting in June. We might want to consider a resolution to delay the annual congregational meeting. It was suggested we check with the Synod and their legal counsel.

7. Senior Pastor Review - Council Process… Not actual review. Will handle in EXEC SESSION

NEW BUSINESS

1. Improving communication among groups and ministries…( ONLY if ready for discussion )

ACTION ITEMS (from Action Tracker)

1. 19-003 bylaw changes: Organization structure, Need Input from the S.B. on their preferred process

RECURRING BUSINESS

1. Approve New Members -NONE 2. Affirm Baptisms - NONE

INFORMATION ITEMS

1. The next council meeting is @ 7pm, May 20, 2020 2. Devotion/Refreshments - MAY - Greg Korshavn

CLOSING PRAYER: Pastor Tim ADJOURNMENT: 10:07

EXECUTIVE SESSION An executive session was held from 10:09 TO 10:19

Pastor Tim’s Council Report- May 2020

Grace and Peace to you. Another month of going through the Covid crisis as a church has gone by and

many both good and difficult things have happened at Ascension. The good: the ECC building is going

well! Fortunately, the construction has been deemed and essential activity and further, the lack of

traffic at school has provided optimal conditions with which to get their work done. The Paycheck

Protection Plan (PPP) has been approved! This will help One Ascension in many ways. Online worship

continues to be a source for worship and production continues to improve. The staff continues to work

hard and adjust to radical changes to the work that we do. Care for the people of our congregation

continues to happen despite the barriers that “social distancing” is putting up. Our congregation has

adjusted well to giving and during this time we have seen our gap in budget deficit shrink. The difficult:

The school budget has been hit hard by the Covid crisis and has done damage to the way we have

functioned as a school for years. The crisis has lasted 2 months now and has disrupted many of our

regular meetings. Many of our plans like youth trips, 8th grade graduation, VBS, congregational meetings

are requiring serious energy to plan and, in the end, my not even be able to happen. Worship

attendance was improving, and the crisis seems to put a halt to the momentum that we were building.

This is just a general assessment- I could give many other specific examples. It all adds up to an

unprecedented crisis in the church- one that I am glad to have great leadership (staff and volunteers) in

place to navigate our way though.

Online Worship: It is a pleasure working with the pastors, the worship team, and of course Lan Merrill

and the tech crew to produce worship each week. We have a mindset to try and improve the process

each week. We have added various details to worship including solos, a count down, a closing image,

etc. as we have gone along. We continue to receive good feedback.

Returning to in-person worship: I am planning to send out a congregational survey that I hope will

provide data on people’s comfort level of returning to in-person worship. It is one thing to follow the

government’s (sometimes confusing) guidelines on when it is safe to return, it is another thing to have a

good understanding of when people will feel safe to comeback to worship. I am sure the feelings will

vary and for that reason we the return will not be all at once. I picture the first several weekend’s being

more of a combination of in-person and online worship. I also believe the online worship is here to stay.

It is possible that some will not come back to in-person worship and there are several people who join

us from all over the country that will continue. We have tried to cultivate this “online community” in

various ways.

School: Ascension Lutheran School has been a great deal of work. It would have been even if had we

not had a budget crisis. The transition to online teaching, the furloughing of the preschool teachers, the

applying for the PPP- all was crisis-oriented adjustment- which I am very proud of our staff for

accomplishing. The principal search has been difficult for lack of candidates. But on top of this the

board has had to confront the fact that our enrollment has for several years, continued to go down. I

am amazed that the way they have both come up with the long-term solution and a short-term solution

for this. The long-term solution is to re-vision for the school. They have had to address the reasons why

people have continued to not re-enroll or not enroll for our school. The new vision for 21st century

learning I believe is a great new vision moving forward and can restore the school’s reputation for

academic excellence. The short-term problem is that we cannot afford to be the school that we were.

We are going to need to close the 7-8 grade middle school and lay off teachers. This is incredibly

painful, thankless and time-consuming work. I continue to be so deeply grateful for the work that Diann

Lavik, Pastor Julie and the school board have been doing this year. I fully believe that we will look back

on this time as a pivotal time and a time when the school was re-born.

Nominating Committee: The work of the nominating committee has not happened in a timely manor

this year. Simply put, it has been a casualty of the Covid crisis. The problem with this is that the election

is of leaders for the work of ministry next year is incredibly important work and needs to be done by the

end of June. In these past few weeks, after taking care of some more urgent, critical work, I am turned

to the work of the putting together of the candidate panel. I have also, been trying to gather our

Nominating Committee but we have some restrictions for our gathering. Nevertheless, candidates are

being identified and called. I covet your prayers for this process.

I conclude by reflecting on my review process. It was helpful to get the opportunity to reflect on the

year of leadership. With all that has happened this year, it feels like my sabbatical was about 10 years

ago, and yet it also feels like the rest and reflection that I was able to get prepared me to face this year

of crisis. It also feels like the vision for the year, one of telling stories, bearing witness to the power and

joy of Jesus presence has gotten deeply interrupted. I pray this process provides good feedback and

direction and we seek to move forward into the future.

Respectfully submitted,

Church Council Report May 20, 2020 Kaylee Searway Director of Administrative Ministries We are continuing on, living into the reality of COVID-19, a lean budget, and a lean school year coming up. As I write the church office is quiet, but evidence of blessing abounds. The Food pantry donation table is filled to brimming, and bags sit at the ready for the people who need them. Maintenance With the difficult decisions the school is facing has come the realization that we may not be able to spend the time and materials we would like to make the campus look its best. We had plans to improve the lower division landscaping and add a retaining wall, but we need to put those plans on hold as we wait to see what the next school year’s academic picture will bring. The school continues to pay for half of Cam’s salary and benefits, so he can still spend about 20 hours per week sanitizing, working landscape, and doing repairs. Jeff’s time and materials are billed separately through a software called, “School Dude.” For now we have planned to pull back Jeff’s Tk-8 time to 8-12 hours per week to allow the school to maintain a leaner budget for the rest of the fiscal year. This means that Jeff is doing necessary repairs for the school, but not all of the beautification we would have wanted to do, such as replace the rotted out wood bases around the columns outside. I emphasize this for two reasons: 1. To manage expectations about what the campus will look like when students return, and 2. To communicate that the church budget may have a larger burden for maintenance labor than we have previously experienced. The time and labor bill backs for January through March average $3462 while we are attempting to reduce to $2300 per month for April- June. The remaining $3487 will fall to church budget. Some of the maintenance projects we have been able to tackle this month include finishing the TK/K bathrooms. Cam has been patching and painting throughout Pederson Hall. Jeff has been working to polish off the sound tech booth in the sanctuary. Materials were purchased some time ago to create the work bench the sound team works from; it is currently a spare table. The extended care modular has been emptied and prepared for removal. We posted it on Craig’s List, and believe we believe we have someone picking it up and hauling it away for no cost to us. Security Thirty of the cameras have been installed and can be viewed from the church ipads. They work very well: even at night the visibility is great. The program is easy to use, monitoring 1, 4, 9, or 16 cameras at a time. We have already been asked for footage by the local police related to and vandalism incident next door at Colina Middle School. It is great to be able to quickly recall the footage and see what has happened. In terms of construction security we have not had any further incidents. However, we must continue with the sentry guard support until we have fences, cameras, and doors with locks so that we can truly secure the facility at the end of each work day. This costs about $3,570 per week. Payroll Protection Plan One Ascension was granted $691,000 from the Payroll Protection Program for Corona Virus relief. The intention of the program is to put money into the hands of employees and keep small businesses, including nonprofits, solvent during the global pandemic. Our first related task was to recall the early childhood center teachers, extended care and nursery care employees back to work. They are not physically working onsite, but they have been called back to active status and will be paid their regularly

scheduled hours. The majority of our church staff has been working remotely since mid-March, so we will experience the PPP funds as a relief from our standard payroll, mortgage, and utility expenses. 20-21 Budget Christi and I have consulted with pastors and ministry leaders regarding the budget for 2020-21. My strategy has been to access the “known” items that don’t have much wiggle room, make reasonable decisions based on spend and ministry plans, and then back into offering and salary numbers. Along a parallel track, Jeremy, Pastor Tim, and the Generosity Team have been working with us to analyze the current offering and pledge situation so we can confidently forecast for the coming year. As I sit a week before our council meeting we have defined the known expenses and are currently refining our offering forecast, which will inform our salary discussion. Much work will be done in the week before we meet, and I look forward to meeting with the Finance Committee and then with you to discern the path forward. Attendance and Viewership It has been fun to learn about online worship attendance and best practices for tracking it. We have learned that one minute views are likely the metric most similar to worship attendants. Facebook looks at 3 and 10 ten second views as well. Carey Nieuwhof likens counting 3 second views to counting people who drive by your building as attenders. Stacy and I have been tracking 1 minute views, as well as average watch times. We have chosen not to use a multiplier to keep the metrics simple and consistent. Now that we are more comfortable with the metrics, we are turning our attention to creating and retaining engagement with our online audience. Mara has sent out some short, but inviting messages to new viewers who liked or commented on our posts. We’ve also been experimenting with the use of mass texts to remind attenders that the service they often attend is about to begin. It’s been fun to work with Pastor Tim, Stacy, and Mara in a creative way to drive engagement. Bricks More than 100 bricks have been ordered! It has been fun to see new ones come in each day. I’m grateful for Mara and Malia’s help in thanking the donors and updating our slideshow of bricks ordered. Make sure you get your order placed by May 31st! Emergency Supplies for Staff Strange times sometimes mean strange tasks! Mara and I took an inventory of emergency supplies and found a great deal of expired food rations and water. FEMA recommends 3 days of food and water kept for each employee. On a “full day,” at the church office there are as many of 14 people! Average is closer to 6-8, but we need to be prepared for the maximum capacity. I looked at emergency food rations and figured we would need to spend $791.91 for MRI’s for 14 people for 3 days, while its on sale. This seems unfortunate to spend on food we hope to never eat… However, we maintain a thriving food bank. My recommendation at this time is to make sure we kept and rotate about 33 gallons of water onsite, but that we agree that in event of a very extreme emergency we would eat the Food pantry supplies and replace them post-emergency.

Kaylee Searway Kaylee Searway Director of Administrative Ministries

Church Council Report – Pastor Steve Herder – May 11, 2020

The last council report was written in Holy Week after we had already experienced

four weeks of online services. Here we are four weeks later and still only able to worship

together online. Our ministry and story-telling through social media has taken on

increased significance. Now we count worship attendance not in the 100s but in the

1000s. Our Ascension Facebook followers went quickly from 1,200 to now 1,633. During

Holy Week our Facebook administration page indicated that we had people worshiping

with us from eleven countries. This past weekend we had friends and family worshiping

with us from at least seven states. The photo in the upper left was posted on Ascension’s

Facebook two days ago and it has already reached 6,651 people because 79 of you have

shared it on your Facebook. This morning we posted the good news of Alexa Ciminera

completing her PhD and that has already reached

700 people. We thank Addie for her posts about our

high school seniors!

As your senior adult ministries pastor, it is very difficult for me not to be able to visit

our seniors now or to lead or co-lead our Christian Life Hours at the five senior living

facilities. We are actively phone calling and sending snail mail to them. Last week I visited

with Cheryll Swiontkowski on the phone and we were lamenting not being able to have

our Lunch Bunch.

So now in mid-May we are in the midst of a second round of phone calling every

family in our congregation. We have a few more callers participating this time. Callers

now are Cindy Niner, Linda and Doug Morrow, Malia Hassenbein, Dolores Ledbetter,

Stacy Bosco, Diane Kusnierek, Cherie Dunk, Susanne Hopkins, Pastor Julie and me. The

purpose of the call is to ask how they are doing, ask for any prayer requests, and check

to see if they are receiving our weekly emails and able to worship online with us.

Our Global Ministries Team has not slowed

down through this sheltering-in-place time, as you

see from our report. We had two delightful Zoom

conversations with two ELCA Young Adults in

Global Mission, one from Rwanda and the other

from Senegal. We’re thankful for our greater

emphasis on Fair Trade with the two new things,

online ordering (as you see in the photo) and our

team taking orders for the products that we would normally

be selling between worship services. Our team is

brainstorming how we will be doing the Lutheran Relief

school kits in the coming months. The last weekend of July

we are still planning on hosting one of World the pastors from

Reconciliation Lutheran Church in Juba, South Sudan. We

are also working with Educational Opportunities and Dr.

Monte Luker in Jerusalem, for our Holy Land Pilgriimage,

June 19 – July 2, 2021. For each of our team’s Zoom

meetings we are thankful to have Susanne Maliski with us.

Regarding Community Concerns work, we are so thankful for the generosity of our

congregation through food pantry donations and through Caring Ones. You have read

our story of Caring Ones in Jeremy’s good report. People are not just giving a few one-

dollar bills but are giving $100 or $300 in gifts to this ministry! Most days of the week we

are giving away bags of groceries from our food pantry. Thanks to Jessica Placas-Hengst

for putting those bags together and to Diane Kusnierek for helping to distribute them as

people come to the office.

Because our Jubilee spring retreat is May 14th (a WebEx meeting), I have been

spending a good amount of time on this as co-chair of Jubilee. One big task accomplished

was editing an interfaith prayer resource during this time of pandemic. Here’s the link to

view it. Susanne Hopkins helped edit this resource. A highlight of the month for Jubilee

was that Eric was asked to write an op-ed for Barron’s and has been seen by millions!

Each weekday (except Thursdays) I enjoy doing a quick tour

of the construction work of our new ECC and taking some photos

of the progress. I talked with Gary Blackwell last week and he is

pleased with the progress and with the quality of work. He thinks

we will be able to get into the building by the end of July! The

playground in the middle of

the complex may take longer,

he said, because of the city inspection schedule?

In celebrating the opening of our new ECC, we

are talking with local Christian country western and

bluegrass band Brush Arbor for a possible

celebration concert, perhaps September 20th. I had

booked this band at my last church for some Peru

trip fund-raisers. They are Christ-centered, very

talented musically, and have a great sense of

humor. Greg Kinney on the construction site is a good friend of the band leaders. To

learn more, go to www.brusharbor.com .

Pastors Tim and Julie have been working very hard with our school board and

planning for our day school’s future. Thanks, Council, for your hard work and prayers for

our school too. A shout out to Kaylee and Christi for all their hard work. So good that we

received the money from the Payroll Protection Program, and we thank them for all their

work on the new budget. I’ve been involved with the school in some very minor roles

online as we all greatly appreciate our teachers and what they

have been doing under these challenging circumstances. We

keep praying for an end to the pandemic. We trust in God to

lead us all as we care for our congregation, our community,

and reach out with love and advocacy for our whole world.

Ascension Lutheran Church - Community Concerns Committee

“We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us – and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does

God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help? Little

children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action” (1 John 3:16-18). Here are some of the ways we serve our

neighbors in our community, our Ventura and Los Angeles Counties with the coordinator listed.

3M, Minor Maintenance Ministries (with Senior Adult Ministries). Beverly David

ACTION, Uniting Churches, Meeting Needs www.actionvc.org . Julia White

Angel Tree – a Nov./Dec. ministry, receiving gifts cards for families in need. Sandra Bean

Ascension’s Food Pantry – open every Friday from 10 a.m. to noon. Bill and Penny Hunter

Blood drives – “find the hero in you” www.unitedbloodservices.org. Janet Baird

“Caring Ones” – loose dollar bills in the offering to help those in need. Pastor Steve

CASA of Ventura County (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children). Rick Ertel

Conejo Elementary Tutoring – Thursday nights. Mary Wennes

CPR/AED Training – for our church leaders, worship leaders. Di Starzak

Guardian Angels and also the Matthew 25:35 Outreach Ministry (with our Global Ministries Team) – helping immigrant

children & teens. Mary Wennes, Carol Bjelland, Eloise Cohen

Habitat for Humanity www.habitatventura.org Scott Squires

Harbor House www.harborhouseto.org Denise Cortes 805-464-3533 for an appt. Providing for those in need in the Conejo Valley

Jail Ministry in Ventura and Santa Paula. Verlon & Shirley Meyer

Lutheran Social Services of Ventura County, Dichele Harris, Area Director

Manna – Conejo Valley Food Bank www.mannaconejo.org

Many Mansions www.manymansions.org Colleen McCarthy

Ohana Health – www.ohanahealthclinic.com

Parish Nurse Diana Doerfler www.elpna.org

Project Response – food collection ministry.

Senior Concerns, T.O.Royale, University Village, Vallecito: “Christian Life Hour” each month, – (Christian Life Hour, with our Senior Adult Ministries Team) Norm & Karen Guetschoff, Phil Schmitz, Jeff Specks, Pastor Steve

United Way of Ventura County www.vcunitedway.org Eric Harrison, CEO

Winter shelter program/ Feeding the hungry year-round. Brenda and Chuck Heinrich

This is not an exhaustive list. We are joyfully aware of many other community (and beyond) ministries that the members of Ascension are involved in. We

are truly thankful for how our members are living out your vocational call to be Salt and Light in God’s world! If you are interested in working on any one of

these ministries, contact pastorsteve@alcto.org or Community Concerns leader Jessica Placas-Hengst. jessplacas@gmail.com

Fair Trade Update May 6, 2020 Update

Contact Carol For More Information &/or to Volunteer – Everyone is Invited to Join Us

1. Fair Trade Campaigns National Conference – March 18-21, 2010 – Virtual Conference: Innovating for a Just and

Sustainable Future

The five from Ascension who participated in the virtual conference have been developing and sharing messages about Fair

Trade & take-aways from the Conference, through newsletter articles, blogs, videos. The group has some great ideas for

continuing learning & living Fair Trade at Ascension; we hope to implement these ideas (e.g. a clothing swap) in the coming

months when it is safe to do so. Communications from the group explore how Fair Trade promotes human, economic and

environmental justice and further education about Fair Trade, FT industries, products (clothing, fresh produce, home décor

etc) and groups. We look forward to sharing more in the coming weeks through various means of communication.

2. We are pleased to announce ALCTO FAIR! Our Fair Trade friends at SERRV have set up a way everyone here, there,

everywhere, can shop for Fair Trade hand-crafts and other items while sheltering in place AND help our ministry partners at

ELCA Lutheran Disaster Response in their work to provide food and relief to many in the US and around the globe. Shop at

our special ALCTOFAIR site in conjunction with SERRV International, and from now through June 15, 2020, 20 per cent of

your purchase will go to Lutheran Disaster Response!

Team has created a custom web link to SERRV, special website page (includes education information about FT, SERRV and

FT at Ascension). Team has created custom flyer for broad distribution. Team’s communication plan includes social media,

flyer distribution w/in Ascension Community – Church, School, Foundation- ministry groups etc. Distribution also with

SWCA Synod – Channel Islands Conference & other churches, ministry teams – and Churchwide partners (Global Desk,

Lutheran Disaster Response, ELCA WH).

3. Fair Trade Sale Events: Team held discussions (internal & with Equal Exchange) about how we might continue Ascension’s sale of Equal Exchange and LWR Fair Trade edibles (coffee, tea, chocolate, snacks) within context of current Shelter at Home and safe distancing requirements. Equal Exchange has advised that they are moving to a wholesale-only model (products sold by the case only vs. single unit purchase opportunities); Team will coordinate w/ALS Staff w/r/t purchases of FT Coffee, Tea, chocolates for hospitality & new member activities - will include these items in bulk purchase; will save in areas of shipping & cost. We have decided to go forward with a pre-order sale event for a limited number of Equal Exchange and LWR Fair Trade coffee, tea, chocolate, snacks etc. An order form has been prepared. A separate email address has been established. Orders must be received by 3 PM , Tuesday, May 12, 2020. Payment (cash, check, credit card) at the time of pick-up. Given uncertainties of shipping time frames, we will notify purchasers of pickup date later. Order form is attached.

Pastor Julie May 2020 Council Report Confirmation The Confirmation service was supposed to be the weekend of May 17. We are delaying the service until the fall, hopefully on Reformation Sunday, though we are still collecting feedback from Confirmation families to ensure that this date works for others. We have collected rough drafts of many faith statements, provided feedback remotely, and final copies are still due on May 17. In the fall, we still hope to be able to have the Confirmation students write and plan much of the service, as we usually would. VBS I continue to hope that we will be able to hold VBS in the last week of July, but I am cognizant that it may have to look quite different from how it usually would. I am attending various webinars and connecting with the VBS planning team as we consider our options, of which there are many, from going all online, to having people sign up for times to do a portion of VBS in-person, and limiting numbers, etc. Though we are considering how we might need to adapt it, we still need people to sign up to volunteer, and kids to sign-up to be a part of it. You can do either of those at: https://vbspro.events/p/events/alcto Calls I am enjoying calling through our list of members and simply getting the chance to catch up with people; this is an important ministry, and I am grateful that so many others have been willing to join in moving through the list. People have really appreciated getting a call! Principal Search Committee & School Board I am a part of the Principal Search Committee, which has been meeting often during these last weeks. This week, we completed our second interview with a principal who seems very promising as a candidate and has impressed us. We are continuing to work through the steps of the process and hope to be able to announce that we have a principal very soon. As you know, the school board has been hard at work imagining a re-visioned school for the new year. We were energized by Kristen’s presentation to the council, and are excited about the idea of moving Orange Conference In April, I was able to participate virtually in a Children, Youth, and Family Conference about engaging parents; the Conference was supposed to be held in-person in Georgia. Most of the conference’s content also continues to be available for another year, and so Addie and I are continuing to watch content and to collaborate on ideas it the conference has sparked. Mentors

We launched our high school to adult mentoring program in March, just before Covid took hold. This was just for our class representatives, so there are just 8 pairs for now. Some adults have had success in reaching out and some have understandably struggled to begin a relationship virtually, and so we plan a relaunch when we are able to again gather together in person. Summer Trips Addie and I continue to talk through options for the summer trips, which are down to the one trip in mid-July. A deadline comes up next week, and so she is gathering data as we consider all options. ‘

Ascension Lutheran Church-Global Ministries Team Wednesday May 6, 2020

7:00 p.m. VIA Zoom call in

AGENDA Mission Statement: With our congregation we are “called to create opportunities for all people to become devoted followers of Christ”. Together we “ invite, grow, serve.” The Global Ministries Team will do this as we pray, work, partner and participate in God’s mission around the world, using our ELCA global mission model of accompaniment. (God’s work. Our hands.”) The scope of current ministries as well as those ministries we would like to better serve and support is reflected in our new name. Inspired by the Biblical mandates to preach the Gospel and remember the poor, the Global Ministries Team will respond to God’s love by sharing the good news of God’s saving grace in Christ; preserving and restoring creation; and serving others through care, advocacy, education, reconciliation, solidarity with those in need, and interfaith work.

Welcome and Opening Prayer Report: Eloise welcomed everyone to the Zoom meeting. Pastor Steve opened the meeting in prayer. Global Missions- Act 1:8 Report: YAGM: We recapped the recent webinars with our Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) Charlie and Marie who recently returned from Senegal and Rwanda. Carol is able to share their slides and photos with anyone interested. We will share the YAGM information with our youth and look for opportunities to connect Charlie and Marie with resources and potential job information. They are the uplifting faces of our future church. Report: Global Partners: We used $ 500 from funds previously designated for the Troesters for El Salvador emergency funds and transferred to our Global Partners Synod Team for Bishop Gomez. 3 or 4 churches are also in relationship with them and a total of $ 2700 was given by the synod for emergency relief related to COVID-19 and hunger. Hunger and Health -Mt. 25:43-45 Report: Louise reported on plans forming for Lutheran World Relief Sunday and the LWR Kits project. We all agreed that we want to do the kits again but may stay with school kits only. Our hope is to get Ascension school more involved this year and do most shopping online. Tentative date for LWR Sunday is October 10, and ingathering for kits will be in October. We will discuss this more at our June meeting when we know the status of COVID-19 and fall plans for church and school. We will remain “ nimble and flexible” as to our plans, and take into account physical distancing in small groups when compiling the kits. Susanne will work on a flyer for the schools, and we will publicize where the kits were delivered last year. We have some $ left over from last year, 106 school bags, and have ordered offering envelopes. Creation Care- Gen. 2:15;Ps.24 Report: Pastor Steve said that there were many postings on social media re Earth Day April 22. The Creation Care committee has not met yet this month. Justice & Advocacy-Ps. 33:5 Report: Fair Trade: Carol reported on Fair Trade projects: Flyers were distributed online for ALCTO’s first FAIR with SERVV. Through June 15 20% of sales will go to Lutheran Disaster Response for COVID-19. Stacy and Eloise worked on the flyer. Anna Berg is working on Fair Trade video stories, also Emily and Kaylee. Fair Trade Sales will start again with online orders. Eloise will send out the order form to GMT and Matthew 25:35 groups. Deadline for ordering is May 12. We will deliver or pick up in person/no contact.

Advocacy: Lutheran Office of Public Policy and Lobby Day is May 20. We will send out a link to both teams to sign up. LIRS and Matthew 25:35: Rabiya Aqa is making masks to help support her family. Ascension members have donated fabric. Thank you to all who have ordered from her. We continue to pray for Karen Gomez, Isaac, and Mary Anthony (host) on pending guardianship ruling. The Great Commission: Pastor Steve is preaching June 6-7. He is collecting global stories as they relate to COVID-19. Please share

any with him. Jubilee: Keep Pastor Steve and Eric Compte and Jubiliee board and partners in our prayers. Jubilee spring board

meeting is the week of May 10 Peacemaking- Mt. 5:9 Report: Local Interfaith community updates

Next Meeting: June 3, 2020 Closing Meditation and Prayer:

Report: Eloise reminded everyone of recognizing May as National Nurses Month. A quote from Florence Nightingale was shared: “ Oh how little can be done in the spirit of Fear” We prayed: Lord, God of All Compassion, hear our prayer and help us to live day by day with active concern, like that of the Good Samaritan, for those suffering in body and spirit whom we are called to serve, whether or not we

know them and however poor they may be”. https://friendsoffieldworkers.org/

Pastor Steve added prayers for our team and those in need.

Ideas for help during the COVID-19 Pandemic  

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA 

Churches Uniting in Christ Christian Churches Together  

May 14th webinar registration required

May 28th webinar registration required

The Latest, General Pandemic News and Messaging: ● CDC: US government general overview ● Ecumenical site started by the Reformed Church In America ● African Methodist Episcopal Church ● African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church ● Christian Methodist Episcopal Church ● Church of God (Anderson) – general resources ● Disciples and COVID-19 - Christian Church ● United Methodist Church – training packages ● Presbyterian Church in the USA – general resources ● Progressive National Baptist Church ● Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference Resources for Coronavirus ● Caribbean and North American Area Council, Reformed Churches ● Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ● Episcopal Church ● National Baptist Church in America, Inc. ● United Church of Christ ● World Council of Churches

Specific Topics: Daily Ecumenical Prayer:

● Daily Scriptures, Prayers, and Meditations

Mental Health: ● Coronavirus Anxiety: Managing Your Fear So You Can Respond in Faith ● Stressed? Get Grounded ● Understanding and Practicing Lament ● United Methodist Women are Members and Leaders ● United Methodist Women: What We Do ● Self-Care and Boundaries During These Times

Hunger: ● Hunger and the Coronavirus

Violence against Children:

● WCC: Out of the Shadows toolkit

Worship and Liturgy:

● Video: Online Worship Tips ● Returning to Public Worship: Theological and Practical Considerations ● Christian Worship and Devotion During Social Distancing: a Resource for United Methodists

Finances:

● 5 Ways to Talk to Your Church about Online Giving ● Keeping donations flowing during the COVID-19 crisis ● Start Planning Your Church's COVID-19 Recovery Ministry Now!

Funerals and End of Life:

● Guidance for Ministries to the Dying and Bereaved During Social Distancing ● Guidance for Funeral Practices: Ministering to the Bereaved During a Public Health Crisis ● Funeral Best Practices in the Time of Covid-19 | United Methodist Church of Greater New Jersey ● Guide for Christian Funerals During COVID-19 ● A Service for the Time of Passage through Death to Life

Environmental Justice as a Part of Recovery:

● Earth Day 2020 ● 12 ways to impact the environment while social distancing ● Courageous Conversations About Climate Change

Racial Justice as a Part of Recovery:

● Racial and Social Justice as a Part of Recovery: May 7 webinar ● Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information ● The Urban League Fights for You ● ELCA Racial Justice ELCA Racial Justice - - Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ● United Methodist Women NewUnited Methodist Women Calls on Government to “Continue to

Remember Those in Prison” in Midst of Covid-19 Pandemic ● United Methodist Women: What We Do

Gender Justice as a Part of Recovery:

● May 14 webinar requiring registration ● Gender equality matters in COVID-19 response

Technology and church leadership:

● How to host Sunday school and small groups during displacement ● 10 thoughts on leading through the COVID-19 crisis ● Taking your worship online: A guide for beginners and everyone else

Please note the above are merely a sampling of the resources available from our member communions and other ecumenical and interreligious organizations. You are welcome to download this resource sheet and add to it from your tradition’s perspective.

Fair Trade Products Order Form

Name_______________________________________________________

Address ____________________________________________________

Phone #_______________________ Email ______________________

Payment Type: ❑check ❑cash ❑credit card

The Global Ministries Team is currently taking orders for the Fair Trade products listed

on this order form. You can turn in your order form via email (fairtrade@alcto.org) or to

the church office by 3:00 PM, May 12, 2020. Items will be available for pick-up outside

the Ascension Lutheran Church office. Payment at the time of pick-up. We will notify you

of the pick-up date and time. The Team will be following safe distancing practices and

will comply with all state and local regulations. Pre-orders are required. The Team will

only order products and quantities based on all preorders. This order will be the only order

for the summer.

Product Cost

Minimum

Quantity

Quantity

Ordered Total Cost

Equal Exchange Coffee

Organic Mind, Body, & Soul, Ground, 10-12 oz $8.00 2

Organic Ethiopian, Ground, 10-12 oz $8.00 2

Flavored Coffee

French Vanilla-Ground,10-12 oz $8.00 2

Toffee Caramel-Ground,10-12 oz $8.00 2

Bulk Whole Bean Coffee

Organic Breakfast Blend – 12oz $7.00 2

Organic French Roast – 10 oz $7.00 2

Organic Breakfast Blend – 5 lbs $44.00 1

Organic French Roast- 5 lbs $44.00 1

Single Serve Coffee

Organic Breakfast Blend – 12 pods/box $7.00 2

Organic French Roast – 12 pods/box $7.00 2

Organic Unwind Decaf – 12 pods/box $7.00 2

Lutheran World Relief-Farmers Market

Coffee

Medium Roast - Ground $8.00 2

Dark Roast - Ground $8.00 2

Decaf- Ground $8.00 2

EQUAL EXCHANGE CHOCOLATE, TEA &

FAIR FOODS

Organic Hot Cocoa – 12 oz can $6.00 1

Organic Unsweetened Baking Cocoa – 8 oz

can $6.00 1

Organic Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips-55%

cacao- 1- oz bag $4.00 2

Organic Chocolate Bars

(% cacao shown)

Organic Very Dark Chocolate (71%) $3.00 2

Organic Dark Chocolate w/Almonds (55%) $3.00 2

Organic Milk Chocolate (43%) $3.00 2

Organic Dark Mint Chocolate with Crunch

(67%) $3.00 2

Organic Dark Chocolate (65%) $3.00 2

Organic Panama Extra Dark Chocolate (80%) $3.00 2

Organic Orange Dark Chocolate (65%) $3.00 2

Organic Dark Chocolate Caramel Crunch

w/Sea Salt (55%) $3.00 2

Organic Dark Chocolate Lemon Ginger w/Black

Pepper (55%) $3.00 2

Organic Dk Choc Whl Almonds w/Sea Salt (55%) $3.00 2

Organic Milk Chocolate Caramel Crunch w/sea

salt (43%) $3.00 2

Organic Dark Chocolate Bag of 20 Minis (55%) $4.00 2

Fair Food

Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil* 250mL $8.00 1

Organic Dried Mangos – 5 oz $5.00 2

Organic Natural Cashews – 8 oz $6.00 2

Organic Roasted Salted Cashews – 8 oz $6.00 2

Organic Natural Almonds – 8 oz $7.00 2

Tea

Organic English Breakfast Tea $4.00 2

Organic Earl Grey Tea $4.00 2

Organic Darjeeling Tea $4.00 2

Organic Green Tea $4.00 2

Organic Rooibos $4.00 2

Organic Peppermint $4.00 2

Organic Chamomile $4.00 2

Organic Ginger $4.00 2

Total Cost

Completed order forms should be turned to the Ascension Church office or emailed to

fairtrade@alcto.org by 3:00 PM, May 12,2020.

*Note: Some items/package sizes are not currently available. The Equal Exchange Olive Oil usually

offered is not available due to export issues. Equal Exchange is offering an alternative Fair Trade olive oil

from Sindyanna of Galilee. Sindyanna is a female-run organization that markets olive oil and other

premium fair-trade products, offering Arab farmers in Israel a fair price for their crops, Palestinian and

Israeli women greater economic opportunity, and a model of Jewish-Arab coexistence. Sindyanna offers

education and financial advice to workers and producers and encourages sustainable agriculture and

organic farming.

*Please note: The Sindyanna Olive Oil comes in smaller (250 ml) bottles.

April Council Report

Sara Wallace Life Groups

April has obviously been a unique month for the various ministries

at our church. I was pleased that most of our groups were open (&

excited) to transition right into online meetings. Early on I was writing

up step-by-step instructions for our Life Group Hosts on how to set up

Zoom meetings. A few groups chose not to meet virtually but the

majority are continuing to meet. A couple groups that had not been

meeting regularly decided to start back up again once the stay at home

order was issued. It has been a nice way for people to continue to stay

connected during this time.

While we have not started any new groups (aside from the few

that started up again) we’ve been building capacity in our current

groups. We have 21 groups that are meeting during this time with 125

(give or take a few) current Life Group Members. I’ve had success with

placing new people in existing groups, so that’s been great.

Looking ahead, we will have a Life Group Campaign for

September, when we can hopefully meet together again in person.

That campaign will be rolled out over the summer. Details on this to

come. In the meantime, I am trying to continue to offer support to our

current hosts, and think of new ways to reach out to our church

members and encourage them to join a Life Group.

Ascension Lutheran Church Financial Highlights

April 2020

YTD Financial Performance:

YTD surplus for the Church as of April 30, 2020 was $10.8K, and $3.6K below budget. This easing of variance to budget is

mostly due to significant increases in giving for the month, nearly achieving YTD budget levels. See below:

Note: There is no PPP effect in these figures – PPP Funds were received May 7 in the amount of $691,000 and I will be

preparing a separate analysis for coming discussions.

Offerings $ (5,000) – Offerings are at 99.5% of budget; 100.2% of prior year

Other income (5,100) – Facility usage fees down due to COVID -19 SAH orders

Congregational Benevolence 2,100

Programs & Committees Exp 17,500 Includes $6.5k from Wedding/Funeral/Event “income”

Payroll Costs (11,300) Represents less than 2% of budget $

Other Admin & Property Exp 15,400

Utilities (3,900)

Insurance, Taxes & Financing 3,700

Other (Debt & Misc) _(17,000)_No const loan int ($4.8) nor July loan pymt ($8.3) were budgeted

Unfavorable variance to budget $ (3,600)

Caring Ones and Thrivent Choice:

April gifts of Caring Ones were $1,930. Thrivent Choice receipts totaled $1,967 in April. Thrivent Choice dollars available

for distribution are $4,949.

Master Plan and Capital Campaign Accounting:

Capital Campaign pledges, including amounts received where no pledge was made, total $4,354,037 Total gifts received

for the Capital Campaign are $3,092,512. The funds available as of April 30, 2020 are $524K as summarized below. The

detail has been forwarded to Creighton Van Horn.

Costs paid in-house (both current & prior year) for the new ECC are $1,525,405 as shown below, and the detail is

contained on the following pages. Additionally, our draw on Thrivent construction loans was $1,894,936 for a combined

expenditure of $3,420,341 on the project thus far.

General Ledger Account Balance at

Title Number 04/30/20

Capital Campaign Receipts 3,092,512$

Earmark for Cap Camp Expenses (1,200)

Less debt payments (136,471)

Less fundraising expenses - FYE18 (87,199)

Reclass Foundation Grant to cover Exp (10,265)

Sanctuary Remodel (808,445)

ECC Expenses - FYE19* (736,720)

Balance Capital Campaign account 323001 1,312,212$

Less Current Year Disbursements:

ECC Const in Prog (CY In-house)* 110512 (788,685)

Available Capital Campaign Funds 523,527$

MPIT Update

ECC Progress report

May 20, 2020Submitted by MPIT

•Grading permit received 10-11-19

•Grading Commenced– 10-15-19

•Building permit received – 11-13-19

•Construction starts 11-14-19

•Parking lot in, Lathe work complete, stucco in progress

•Electrical room finished now, main power in May

•Roof 90% complete, electrical mostly finished

•Latest Building Project estimate – coming Monday

•ECC planned open - August 24, 2020

ECC Project Update

• Project Cost Estimate from Cong Meeting

•1-16-19 was $6,807,000 – included Sanctuary facelift and

some debt reduction ($150K to date)

• Current Cost estimates are $8.4M – an increase of 14%–

Admin expenses higher, construction & Architect fees

coming in higher (City coordination), added in $540K FF&E

plus added security costs includes physical guard at night

ECC Project Update

• Sanctuary Costs - $800K

• Design & permit fees - $400K

• ECC Construction $5.2M

•Architect & Civil & Site prep - $430K

•City & Admin Fees - $500K

•Debt reduction - $135K

•Capital expenses - $115K

•Fundraising expense - $90K

•Project Mgt - $75K

•FF&E - $540K

•Security - $50K

•Grading and Construction bond - $65K

•Total - $8.4 Million

Uses of Funds

• Mission Possible 1.0 Pledges - $3.3Million - done

•Sale of Land - $835K – Going to Escrow

•Sale of New land – needs approval $1.1Million

•School borrowing increase (needs approval) - $2.0Million

•Mission Possible 2.0– $1.2Million – 12-31-19

•Expected Contingency at end - $75K

•Total $8.5Million

•Naming rights/Business– $200K ($105K in)

•Brick program – Mar-May - $200K ($45Kin)

•Donor Wall increased giving- $100K

Sources of Funds

†Total Pledges to date - $4.66 Million

Total received to date - $3.152 Million

$Balance to collect - $1.508 Million

Outstanding balance – (at risk)

Under 20% receipt - $103,010 x 50% =($51,500)

20% - 40% received - $546,196 x 40% = ($218,478)

40% -60% received - $414,153 x 30% = ($124,245)

60% - 80% received - $371,434 x 20% = ($74,287)

80% - 100% received - $73,523 x 10% = ($7,352)

Potential Risk ($475K)

Mission Possible – update

• Re-enforce Brick sales end May 31– videos and

testimonials shown in church orders not in line with

$200K in sales, only raised $45K with three weeks to go

may hit $100K

• Begin pursuing naming rights via e-mail and phone

conversations before then( Currently raised $105K from

6 responses out of 13 e-mails, waiting on 7 replies)

• 5 additional requests not sent yet

• Unveil Donor Wall concept during summer– goal is to

complete the Donor Wall by end of 2021 – Tim Hengst

will design

Updated Plan on Fundraising

1) General Fund

• Giving pattern down 5% projected

• FY 21 will increase debt service - $35K

• Unsure of COVID 19 impact on next year giving

• Limited ($67K) deferred maintenance fund

2) ECC

• Need $540K in FF&E to build out new building

• Fundraising to complete raw building may not happen at

full levels $800K

3) ALS K-8

Enrollment down, budgets tight

Current Financial Situation

1) Increase borrowing for ECC to 2.0 Million paid for

out of ECC Operating Revenue but allow ECC to

use their own surplus to support this debt. (This

covers all FF&E which could free up some ALS

budget.)

2) Sell lower lots for $1.0 - $1.2 Million with the balance

could offset any shortfall on ECC fundraising

3) Pursue CARES Act COVID – 19 funds to protect

payroll impact – received funds in second stimulus

4) Continue fundraising until debts are resolved

Ideas to fix

1) Cost of increasing loan from $1.5Million to $2.0

Million is about $3500/mo.

2) Removing both modular will save the ECC budget

$2400/mo for future years.

3) Operating surplus should be able to withstand the

remaining $1,100/mo to make this payment.

Increase ECC borrowing by $500K

1) MPIT is in discussion on Letter of Intent to sell the

land which should net $1.0Million - $1.2 Million

2) There are costs which must be factored before final

net number is realized such as dirt removal offset

($100K ++), Lot line adjustments ($50K estimate), other

admin costs , modular (3) move out costs ($45K) not

currently in ALS budget may be covered here

3) Have LOI from Robert Younkin for review - $1.3

Million range??

Sell Lower Lots

1) Potential market downturn of 35% or more on

commercial real estate

2) Some portion of $1.5 Million in O/S pledges at risk

with current economic uncertainty

3) Remaining fundraising (Bricks, Donor Wall, business

gifts) all at risk to hit targets.

4) Parcel in questions is difficult to develop and costly

due to slope and location.

5) No Ascension ministry need for this land

6) Church & School currently projecting shortfalls

Why sell now?

• Agreed to price per square foot - $46.75

• Net value at $1.1 Million est after offsets

• Agreed to joint use easements

• Target of Fourth Quarter 2020

(contingent on lot line adjustment)

• Timing cohesive with ECC occupancy needs

• Adds cash to short term loan repayment due January

2021

Younkin Letter Of Intent

New Ascension Campus

Driveway to ECC Parking lot-

Curve Property on right-

Easement to Younkin property-

ECC lot – sloped area to the right-

Lot view from Erbes-

Lot view down to Erbes-