ELDERS

The nature of the duties of this Board requires that only men noted for their Christian maturity, knowledge, zeal, and experience in the spiritual work of the Kingdom of Christ shall be eligible for membership. The basic purposes of the board of Elders are the spiritual welfare of the Pastor and congregation members, individually and corporately; and concern for the effectiveness within the congregation in accomplishing the central mission of evangelism. The duties and responsibilities of the Board, as listed in the By-Laws of The First Evangelical Lutheran Church of Odenton, MD, can be divided into four categories:

• Assist with communion, baptisms, and serve as greeter on Sunday mornings.

• Visit the sick, shut-ins, other members of the congregation, and visitors.

• Work with the membership to help assimilate new members, find sponsors for new members, maintain new members packet, initiate a new members event, and identify children to receive baptism.

• Pastoral / Congregational care - help to resolve issues which involve: office of pastor, a pastoral vacancy, personal needs of the pastor, personal needs of members of the congregation, the position of church secretary, transfers of membership into, or out of, the congregation, and auxiliaries such as the Ladies and Men's Clubs.

Members of the Board:

• Earl McKnew - Head Elder

• George Jenkins - President of the Congregation

• Buford Hansberger

• Bill Neubacher

• Mike Petersen

 LADIES' AUXILIARY

The Ladies’ Auxiliary continues its drive for more members.  The auxiliary is an important source of funds in these days of expansion possibilities.  We need fund raising ideas and the organizational ability to carry them through.  Our meetings are held the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m.

Here is where we have been active:

1. Conduct flea markets, dinners and bazaars to raise money for church needs.

2. Prepare and serve meals at Sarah's House.

3. Organize the annual gifts for college students and members away from home.

4. Organize carolers to sing around our neighborhood.

5. Prepare and serve meals as requested for weddings, funerals and special events.

6. Provide a contribution each month for different charities (from our dues of $1.00 a month).

7. Prepare and serve confirmands' and new members' dinners.

8. Make crafts for sale at bazaars.

9. Coordinate the "Secret Pal" program.

10. Support Lutheran Women's Missionary League with our "mites boxes".

11. Presently forming a "help group" to assist sick or disabled members with meals, transportation, etc.

12. Paid for church needs, such as Sunday School carpet, Sunday School Bibles, new tables for Fellowship Hall, cushioned chairs, etc.

13. Assist with preparing and serving the Seder Meal.

14. Prepare and serve lunch for church clean-up projects as requested.

15. Promote cookie baking for the Lutheran Mission Society.

16. Assist other boards as needed.

PRESIDENT'S CORNER

by George

Best wishes to all for a Happy New Year. This is the time when all those resolutions are made and I trust that one of them is to be more active and involved as a Christian in the secular world. Another resolution we should all make and stick with is to be an active participant in Bible study. As we are told in 1 Peter 3:15; “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

At the Voters Assembly meeting on December 18, 2005 the congregation (all 16 of them) unanimously passed the 2006 budget. The final budget was $289,378 and the congregation was reminded that this is a faith budget. Even though Beverly returned home after back surgery on Thursday, she supplied the annual Income/Expenditures Report that showed a total income of $303,854.22 and an expenditure of $283,334.10 for a net income of $20,520.12. The budget for 2005 was $273,226, so our planning was fairly close.

The total in the Expansion Fund as of Dec 8 is $70,251.00. As of today (12/18/05), we’ve had two Sundays since then, so we are at approximately $73,000. The one-year fundraising period was a motion that was approved by the Voters Assembly on March 14, 2005. his one-year ends March 15, 2006 and the objective was to determine if we could raise 100,000 and thereby meet a mortgage payment necessary for the expansion program that we’ve prayerfully considered. The Expansion Committee has suspended meetings with John Corkill, the architect, until we conclude this fundraising.

PLANNING COUNCIL MINUTES