The Energy is Palpable

On Sunday, February 21st, the Mt. Tabor Church Council welcomed three new members and restructured our slate of committee and officer assignments. New members beginning their 3 year terms are: Lanea Brown, Deng Hoth and Grant Smith.

Every member of the council is asked to select a position for a year's service - some serve as liaisons between committees and some choose to be officers handling administrative and personnel matters. Along with Pastor Jeff Louden, the 2010 Council and their respective positions are as follows:

Deb Elstad - President                                            Robin Eskridge - Youth and Family
Chris Jensen - Vice President                                  Christine Larson - Evangelism and Stewardship
Grant Smith - Secretary                                          Ed Howard - Building and Grounds
Deng Hoth - Social Action                                      Susan Workman - Congregational Life
Lanea Brown - Worship and Music                          Sarah Lange - Education

Continuing to serve as important contributors to the leadership of the church are Dave Warren, Treasurer and Mary Ann Wagner, Financial Secretary.

Now back to the title of this message - "The Energy is Palpable". This was the comment by one of the new members at the end of this first meeting of the Council. We are once again fortunate to have a very thoughtful and committed council with the insight and energy to provide exceptional leadership.

In February's meeting we also welcomed the Call Committee to our meeting. They presented their well-prepared Ministry Site Profile for Council review and eventual approval. The council highly commended the work of the Call Committee and their ability to accurately characterize our congregation, our desired qualities and needs in a pastoral leader and a particularly well-designed "extra commentary" piece by Lee Kreutzer showing a dynamic congregation and beautiful Salt Lake setting. One additional piece of business that was discussed and unanimously approved was an increase in the base salary range from the original figures. Both the Council and the Call Committee agreed that opening the field to both the 0-3 and 4-9 year salary/experience levels may improve the range and number of potential candidates available. This document incorporating a few requested revisions by the Council will now be submitted to the Synod and made available for ELCA rostered leaders seeking relocation.

Next month the Council is planning a full-day retreat at Pastor Jeff's home. We plan to continue to bolster our collective energy and focus on ways to prepare ourselves for a new pastor and better understand our vision and mission for Mt. Tabor in this exciting year ahead.

In His Service,

Deb Elstad
Council President