President's Post

Occasional updates from our Church Council President.

Associate Pastor Call Committee & Notice of Congregational Meeting to Call Savannah Olaphson as Deacon

January 12, 2023

The Immanuel Church Council, at its January meeting, approved a motion to charge a call committee, working with the Minneapolis Synod of the ELCA, to identify candidates for call as an associate pastor. In formulating the parameters of this call the Council:

• carefully considered the work of the Visioning Team that was convened by our Council Vice President, Julie Maes.
• examined the ministry needs of Immanuel, our existing ministry staff, and how we can best meet our ministry needs with current and new staff.
• considered the availability of candidates interested in such a call and the financial position of Immanuel to provide sustained support for an associate pastor at various effort levels (including half time, three quarter time, and full time calls).

Based on these discussions, the Council has decided to call a new Associate Pastor to Immanuel for 25 hours per week, with the associate Pastor on site or providing caring ministries at least Sunday through Wednesday each week. Moving forward with this call and with ministry staffing at Immanuel, our goals are three-fold:

1. Meet the ministry needs of Immanuel, particularly related to welcoming fellowship and relationship building.
2. Continue to grow both vibrant outreach through our social ministry efforts, and compassionate in-reach through our Caring Ministry Team.
3. Maximize our staff while meeting a sustainable budget.

The Associate Pastor, along with Senior Pastor Paul Nelson and Deacon Savannah Olaphson, will form our ordained ministry team at Immanuel.

THE IMMANUEL ORDAINED STAFF AND CARING MINISTRY TEAM WILL BE CONSTITUTED AS FOLLOWS:

Senior Pastor Paul Nelson, Full time: Worship, Evangelism, Stewardship.

• Preach two times a month and lead worship.
• Work with the Evangelism Committee in outreach to the congregation and community including small groups and Tables of 8, the Bingo Benefit for PROP, and communication to the congregation and community.
• Work with the Stewardship Committee in inviting people to grow in faith through faithful and generous giving of time, talents, and treasure.
• Oversee and support staff, providing them with what they need to flourish.
• Work with the visioning about the future of Immanuel and how to keep its ministries strong. 
• Participate in Adult Faith Formation and Faith Stepping Stones.

Associate Pastor, Worship, 25 hours a week: Worship, Adult Faith Formation, Fellowship.

• Preach once a month and assist in leading worship.
• Work with the Adult Faith Formation Committee, lead in planning Adult Faith Formation on Wednesday Evenings (working with Pastor Paul and Deacon Savannah) and support lay leaders of bible study groups, circles, and Women’s Retreats.
• Work with the Fellowship Committee to plan and facilitate the fellowship of the congregation and enhance Immanuel’s hospitality ministry.
• Oversee and grow our small group ministries, especially focusing on developing small groups for young adults and young families.
• Provide opportunities for people to grow in caring relationships.
• Participate in Caring Ministry and Faith Stepping Stones.

Deacon Savannah Olaphson, 30 hours a week: Worship, Social Concerns, Caring Ministry.

• Preach once a month and assist in leading worship.
• Lead the Social Concerns Committee to coordinate the mission and service efforts of the congregation.
• Encourage and equip people in serving and sharing their time, talents, and treasure with diverse serving opportunities, provide leadership to existing ministry partner relationships.
• Oversee the coordination of Caring Ministry and coordinate with Parish Nurse Kari Totall and the pastoral staff regarding visitation to those hospitalized and homebound.
• Participate in Adult Faith Formation and Faith Stepping Stones.

Kari Totall, 10 hours a week: Parish Nurse.

• Provide support to Caring Ministry efforts in coordination with the ministerial staff, and provide resources for families when dealing with care concerns and end of life issues.

NEXT STEPS

• Feedback Opportunities. If you would like to provide your thoughts or feedback, please feel free to:
  • contact congregational president, Paul Savereide, president@immanuel.us, and/or
  • Join Paul Savereide and Pastor Paul next Wednesday evening, January 18, at 7:30 p.m. in Fellowship Hall for a discussion of staffing plans for Immanuel. This meeting will also be Zoomed: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81057476246?pwd=azBHRmUwNnI5RWtob0xndy82OVZCQT09   Meeting ID: 810 5747 6246   Passcode: 107905
• Annual Meeting: Sunday, January 22, 12 noon.
• CONGEGATIONAL MEETING TO CALL SAVANNAH OLAPHSON AS DEACON. There will be a congregational meeting on Sunday, February 5th, following the 9 a.m. worship service for a congregational vote on calling Savannah Olaphson as Deacon at Immanuel (read more about the role of Deacon).

Please join us in supporting our search for our next associate pastor with your prayers. And may the Holy Spirit guide Immanuel as we continue to serve God.

Pastor Paul Nelson                                

Paul Savereide, President

 

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Staffing and Associate Pastor Call Update

December 15, 2022

Blessings to each of you during this Advent season. My hope is that you may find hope, joy, peace, and love within yourself and with those around you. Advent marks the beginning of the church calendar, and with new beginnings we have new possibilities, including here at Immanuel as we evaluate and assess our ministry needs.

The Church Council met this week to discuss these needs and how to address them:

• Savannah is finishing her training as a Deacon and Council plans to call her at a 75% appointment at the next Council meeting in January. She will continue to support Immanuel’s service and justice ministries as well as to coordinate caring ministries. Learn more about Savannah and the role of Deacon.
• The Council also looked at the other church needs including visitations, adult faith formation, small group ministries, fellowship, baptism orientation, as well as leading worship and preaching to be addressed by an associate pastor. Based on these needs and review of church finances, a preliminary assessment is that a call for an associate pastor with a 50% appointment is possible within current giving and budget. Expansion of the role to 75% or 100% would require reduction in benevolence or for the church to tap into financial reserves.

Calling an associate pastor is vitally important for our congregation, and I would like to hear your thoughts. Please feel free to contact me at president@immanuel.us.

Paul Savereide 

 

Church Council Retreat: Five Strategic Priorities

April 12, 2022, By Paul Savereide

The Immanuel Church Council met on Saturday April 9 for an all-day retreat at Immanuel.  Our task for a good part of the day was to review three of the Five Strategic Priorities to begin moving from statements to action by the church.  We reviewed:

• Priority 2: Listening and learning from our community
• Priority  3: Reaching out to our community, and
• Priority  4: Welcoming and retain members

The notes from each of the nine reviews sessions are being compiled.  In future Council meetings, we will review these results and prioritize actions and identify resources to put this work into action. 

Read about all Five Strategic Priorities

 

Building Up Campaign Winds Down - Immanuel’s Mortgage Paid Off Early!

March 25, 2022, by Paul Savereide 

As we start to close out our Building Up capital campaign and look forward to our upcoming Raise the Roof campaign, it seems fitting to take the time to:

1. reflect back on all of the great work that has been accomplished over our last two campaigns through the generous and faithful giving of the Immanuel community. 
2. celebrate the early pay off of a mortgage we took out 6 years ago.

OPENING DOORS, 2016 - 2019: Let’s start all the way back to 2016 when we launched the Opening Doors Campaign with the multi-year objective of updating and modernizing our facilities and making significant contributions to two wonderful outreach programs. We received pledges of $700k for this campaign and in an effort to jump start these initiatives we took out a 10-year mortgage for $680k in the fall of that year.  As part of that campaign, we:

• made a $200k investment in a youth housing initiative now known as Onward Eden Prairie, and
• made a $100k contribution to Redeemer Lutheran Church, our partner congregation in North Minneapolis.
• started work on our facility updates which included the repurposing of the stain glass windows from Luther Hall, technology updates, replacing several HVAC units, creating a children’s play area, and refreshing the narthex, nursery and music room.

BUILDING UP, 2019 - 2022: In 2019 we launched the Building Up campaign which continued the facility updating efforts and also made significant contributions to two additional outreach initiatives. We will wrap up this campaign in June and if current trends continue, we will exceed $700k in giving. As a part of this campaign, we:

• have been able to give $40k to AMEXTRA and $10k to Christo Obrero, a Hispanic mission church in Shakopee. 
• continued our building updates which included the installation of the sanctuary stone wall, renovation of the Sunday School hallway and class rooms, replacement of additional HVAC units, installation new roofing over more than half of the building, resurfaced the parking lot, and completed sky light and window replacement in the Sanctuary and Luther Hall. 

MORTGAGE PAID OFF: During this time, funds from both campaigns have been used to pay down the mortgage. At our most recent annual meeting in January 2022, a plan was presented and received congregational approval to use reserved funds currently on hand to pay off the mortgage early leaving Immanuel debt free. We are excited to share that the final payment was made earlier this month.

MORTGAGE BURNING CELEBRATION, JUNE 5: Join us on Pentecost Sunday, June 5th, when we will celebrate the burning of our mortgage as a congregation.  

Thanks to your faithful giving, our congregation can enter the next capital campaign debt-free and continue to expand upon the great work that was started with these two previous campaigns.

Paul Savereide – Church President, president@immanuel.us
Connie Cadden – Church Treasurer