Christ Lutheran Church

Work Day
Saturday, January 21
Beginning at 10:00 AM.

We need people with sheetrock experience and rough carpenters. We are installing 2X4 framing and covering openings over stairways and blocking off hallways in order to make the narthex and sanctuary safe.

We can’t have a work day without Coffee and Snacks to fuel the workers!

Call the Church Office if you can help and/or provide treats!

* * * * *

PHASE 2 FLOOD RECOVERY PLANNING Continues

The Parish Planning Counil invites all Christ Lutheran members to be involved by participating in theFellowship/Forums scheduled in January. Mark your calendars with the following dates:
Forum 1 - January 18 at 6:30 pm
Meeting on the upper level
Forum 2 - January 21 at 6 pm,
January 22 at 10:30 am,
January 25 at 6:30 pm
Forum 3 - January 28 at 6 pm,
January 29 at 10:30 am
All forums will be held at Bethany Lutheran.

If you are unable to attend the forums, you can be involved by completing the forum questions via a survey. Visit the Christ Lutheran web-site www.christlutheranminot.com and link to the survey.

Sunday, January 29 Meal/Ministry Event. 6:00 PM Pot luck meal
Bethany Fellowship Hall
6:30 PM Ministry Event
Each Forum/Event has an agenda. Details on each forum can be found in the letter from Council President, Verla Rostad, printed below.

A plan for Phase 2 of our Flood Recovery

Dear Friends,
A team of members from Christ Lutheran joined a Ministry Review team from the ELCA church-wide and Western ND Synod on December 9th and 10th for some very intense conversation. The Review Team will have their written report ready to present to the Parish Planning Council on January 10. It will include affirmations and recommendations.

Our focus in January will be a study of the Book of Acts, and thinking about the health of our ministry and what God is calling us to do. On the weekend of January 14-15 we will have fellowship / forums after services, divide into small groups and ask each small group to identify our S.W.O.T. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) At the end of the session we will share the Review Team report.

We will find a way to gather the same information on Wednesday, January 18, and include gatherings on subsequent Wednesdays. Details are still being worked out – space is at a premium! We are also working on ways to gather input from members who are out of town – probably an online version.

On the weekend of January 21-22 we will have fellowship / forums after services and ask each small group to share their vision or dreams for our ministry and our building - if money were no object (even though we know it is!) This will be our chance to have some fun dreaming about what might be!

On the weekend of January 28 - 29 we will have fellowship / forums after services and ask people to give written comments and questions that have come out of the Review Team report and previous weeks’ conversations - still with a focus on the ministry. That afternoon, the Dream Team will meet to compile the comments. On Sunday evening, January 29 we will have an event with a meal and share the results of three weeks of conversation and answer questions as best we can. It must be understood that we will not have cost estimates for renovating the building at this meeting!

We will have two weeks until our annual meeting, which is scheduled for Sunday, February 12. During that time we will all have a chance to pray for guidance to know what God wants from us and our ministry together. At the annual meeting we will ask for a ‘straw vote’ (paper/secret ballot) to give the leadership team direction as to whether or not our ministry is healthy enough that we should pursue rebuilding / renovation of the building.

If the consensus is that we should pursue renovation of the building, the leadership team will begin to gather information based on the input gathered in January about our ministry. Using resources available to us from the ELCA’s Mission Investment Fund and Mission Builders we will develop plans, gather cost estimates, etc. The ELCA has resources available to help us, not only to develop building plans, but to help us determine the affordability of a building project, to execute a building fund capital campaign and to coordinate volunteers to see the plans become reality.

I know some folks wish to speed up the rebuilding process. Please understand that your leadership team has been working hard to make the building safe and sanitary, and to arrange a way to pay for that phase of the work, and only now can we move on to the next phase. There is no need to rebuild the church building if there is no stated mission, desire for outreach or dream about Gospel living - at the same time the Dream needs a home to take root and the home needs to be funded.

Your sister in Christ,

Verla Rostad, congregation president