The meeting was called to order at 6:05 PM. The minutes from April were approved. April attendance was down but March was up due to Easter. There was a memorial service on April 18. No red flags in the Treasurer’s report. We were short $529 for April, but still $1,708 in the black for the year. There are five Sundays in May and no big expenses coming up so things look good.

Board Reports

• Campus Ministry: Last bible study was May 3 and the group had an end-of-the-year get-together on May 6. Will pick things back up in August. Michael Groves thanks us for use of the room and the snacks.
• Children’s Ministry: VBS is in the planning stages and should be in June. Meeting soon to plan summer Sunday school schedule.
• Elderberries: Had about twenty people at the last potluck and will be meeting tomorrow to plan the rest of the summer.
• Fellowship: The Last Eat and Greet potluck of the spring was at the beginning and May and had the usual attendance. There will be a church picnic this summer. Will soon start promoting the Rockies Faith Day event.
• Finance: Met yesterday, but nothing to report.
• Human Needs: The Alpha Center baby bottle campaign started Mother’s day and will finish Father’s day. The Heseder group is meeting on Sunday.
• Human Resources: Nothing to report.
• Lay Ministry: Met, but nothing to report.
• Outreach: Nothing to report; next meeting is in August.
• Parish Education: Nothing to report.
• Preschool: Met today. Beginning to look at a new logo and rebranding. Raised about $400 in the Spring fundraiser so far. The Spring program is this week. Last days of school are May 19 and 20. Eight children are graduating this year. We have twelve registered for next year.
• Trustees: Have not met. At their next meeting, Eric will bring up issues and concerns from the congregation meeting. Council would like the Trustees to look into the possible removal of the bushes on south side of the building, the poor visibility of the step up to the Chancel and ways to deal with the amount of heat coming in through the skylight above the Welcome Center. Have not moved forward on purchasing a new stove.
• Worship: Met today. Thanks to Pastor and confirmands for our new acolytes. Handed out Mother’s day bookmarks and will hand out something similar for Father’s day. No communion on June 5; Nikolai will be preaching and leading the service that morning. Upcoming festival services are Pentecost and Trinity. Adding new Altar Guild members, ushers and tech people.
• Youth: Nothing to report.

Parish Administrator’s Report

• Replacement Sanctuary Air Conditioning Unit: Waiting for a few nice days to install and adjust.
• Fence Repair: Neighbors to the east on Elizabeth are splitting the cost with us to fix the fence. We’ll pay $250.
• Neighbor Construction: Neighbor to the east on Garfield is doing a room addition and would like access to his yard through our parking lot. We’ll ask him to have his lawyer draw up a contract for us to approve.
• Best Western Parking: They’ll pay us $400 to use a few spots in our parking lot while they are doing construction at the hotel.

Old Business

• Garden Update: Ongoing maintenance was a big concern to the congregation. We are currently waiting on estimates.
• Wente Estate Update: We have received our first check. Money is sitting in an account until we determine what we can use it for. Zach suggested directing some of it to an organization comparable to Crippled Children. Dale Walters will review the reports to give an idea what to expect in the future. Will seek guidelines from the Synod as to what we can spend the money on.

New Business

• Substitute Pastor Compensation: Pastor met with LCMS Rocky Mountain District President Anderson about substitute pastor compensation. Pastor feels our rate must be increased to be adequate and to better match what other churches offer. Council approves an increase from our current rate—$175—to $250 as long as we stay within the budget. This will be a flat rate that includes bible study and travel.
• Lutheran Church Extension Fund: LCEF would like to come and give a presentation after service. Pastor feels that it would be inappropriate to have a presentation during service time. Bruce suggested having the presentation after Bible study.
• Nikolai Gibbons’ Ordination: Ordination service is at 2:00 PM on June 12. There will be a regular non-communion worship service at 9:00 AM that morning. There will be some cost involved for a guest preacher; Ron will ask the Foundation to pay this. Council agrees with pastor to get Nikolai an ordination gift.
• Irrigation Ditch: Irrigation ditch that runs through the parking lot is starting to rise. Tom will look in to who owns this and who to contact about fixing that.
• Higher Things: A high school group of 23 kids and eight adults from Sioux Falls is looking for somewhere to stay overnight on July 29, while they are in town for the Higher Things conference. Council agrees that they can use the church.

Closed with prayer at 7:23 PM.

The thirteen members of the Church Council are the “Board of Directors” of the congregation, tasked with general oversight of the life and activities of the congregation to the end that everything be done in accordance with the Constitution and Bylaws.