National Lutheran Secretariat Executive Committee Meeting
Minutes of February 22, 2022 Meeting
Present: John Aclin, Pastor Sue Beall, Jim Ryan, Karen Weires, Jane Winge, Carolyn Witham, Brian Schwartz
Call to Order and Opening Prayer: John called the National Lutheran Secretariat (NLS) meeting to order and Pastor Sue opened the meeting with prayer.
Old Business
Minutes from the January 18, 2022 meeting were accepted as amended by acclamation.
Executive Committee Member Reports
VP of Administration – Jane: Jane reported that the two communities that previously expressed an interest in hosting the 2023 annual gathering have confirmed that they are no longer considering hosting in 2023. (See more below under 2023 Host Committee status) Jane also prepared a NLSAG article for the spring newsletter. Jane sought and received input from the NLSEC regarding NLSAG details (e.g., full names of individuals that were recommended to facilitate EOIs or forums).
Spiritual Director – Sue: Pastor Sue sent the Executive Committee and appointed committee chairpersons the prayer partner list for March to July. The Pastoral Support Committee is continuing to work on the Spiritual Director survey. Their next project is to create a new video targeted to Spiritual Directors that will be available on the website. The PowerPoint with voice over created for Spiritual Directors by Pastor Paul Schmidlin and Ed Broestl list is available through the website.
Treasurer – Jim: Jim shared the recent cash flow that included one voluntary dues contribution. He contributed to the NLS Annual Gathering (NLSAG) registration site rollout. He will be sending the 2022 NLSAG Host Committee the portion of the registration fees for NLS Executive Committee (NLSEC) and appointed committee members that is covered by the NLS budget. He reminded the NLSEC to send him the completed travel template and airline ticket copy to initiate timely reimbursement.
Secretary – Carolyn: Carolyn finalized the annual activity communication and worked with Amanda who sent the Annual Activity Report request to all affiliated secretariat members as identified by the database at the time of distribution. It was highlighted during the meeting that several current secretariat members did not receive the communication. Carolyn received many local secretariat member updates as a result of the communication and all were all shared with Randy and Marcia so that the database could be updated. This led to a discussion about handling database updates. In addition to sharing secretariat member updates with the database coordinators, Karen asked that updates be shared with her as well. Carolyn also responded to other emails received and sent the December minutes to Eric for posting to the website.
VP of Outreach – Karen: Karen reported that, with amazing support from Eric, the weekend listing part of the website is up and in use. Users can use “List a Weekend” to have their weekends added to the “Upcoming Events”. When on the “Upcoming Events” page, users can click on individual upcoming weekend links to see where to send palanca and/or to link to the secretariat’s website. She has been working with the Regional Coordinators (RCs) to encourage communities to post their upcoming weekends to the site. She has also been working with the RCs to gather prayer vigil sign-up solutions now in use. Karen reported that another RC resigned. There are now open RC positions in regions 1, 2 and 4. She is actively working to fill these positions. In the interim, Karen is meeting with the Lay Directors in region 4 on March 23rd. She plans to have another RC meeting in March.
Executive Director – Brian: This month Brian assisted with a solicitation for a 2023 Host Committee. He also contacted Lay Directors to encourage timely response to the Annual Activity request. He continues to meet with John every week.
President – John: John worked with other NLSEC members and appointed committee chairpersons on the NLS annual business meeting (NLSAM) schedule, getting the Weekend Listing part of the website up, getting the NLSAG registration site up, and learning how to review documents on the GoDaddy site. He is thinking about what else should be done with the website. John sent a “What’s the NLS doing?” communication to the broader 4th Day community. Previously, communications were going to just lay directors. He plans to continue to send monthly communications to lay directors in addition to periodic communications to the entire body. John spoke to Western North Carolina VdC about their prayer vigil process and is working on a ‘how to’ document to be shared on the NLS website. He spoke to another 4th day community member who is now prayerfully considering John’s request to lead a webinar on Essentials this spring. John has started the process to get a Google-for-nonprofits account. John also completed filling the Nominating Committee. (See details below)
New Business
2023 Host Committee status
VdC of Ohio, VdC of Minnesota, and SonBeam have all respectfully declined from hosting the 2023 NLSAG as they are in a place of rebuilding. Karen will connect with Region 1 about the possibility of hosting in Las Vegas or elsewhere in the region. Jim will reach out to Magdala and Watson Ray about the possibility of Region 7 hosting again, possibly at Palm Beach Atlantic University. As NLSEC members make calls to lay directors in the next few weeks, the need for a 2023 Host Committee will be highlighted: ‘Do you want to be part of a miracle?’.
Annual Report update
Carolyn shared that 18 secretariats have responded with their Annual Activity report details. Each NLSEC team member was given a region to contact after the March 1st deadline to submit Annual Activity reports as follows: Region 1 – Karen, Region 2 – John, Region 3 – Pastor Sue, Region 4 – Brian, Region 5 – Jane, Region 6 – Carolyn, Region 7 – Jim.
Bylaw amendment plan
The ‘Bylaw changes pending before NLS with explanation and mods’ document prepared by Jim was reviewed. Brian moved that the document be distributed to all secretariats for review. Pastor Sue seconded the motion which then was unanimously passed.
The group discussed the approach to addressing the proposed bylaw changes with the community and during the NLSAM. The NLSEC will announce the details of the Town Hall meeting when sharing the bylaw changes document with the body. The Town Hall meeting will then be held by the NLSEC to hear feedback on the proposed changes and address questions from attendees. (See amendment below for Town Hall meeting details.) At the NLSAM, the NLSEC will present a motion to remove all pending bylaw motions from the table. This will then clear the slate of past actions to allow for the proposed changes to be addressed.
Nominating committee update
The committee is now full and includes Janet Crouch (chair), Jennifer Carson, Mark Hammond, and Pastor Doug Givan. There is currently one nominee for Treasurer, one for VPA, and several individuals have been contacted about the SD position that will be open. At least one nomination for Secretary is also needed.
Prayer vigil options
There are secretariats seeking suggestions on how to handle prayer vigil signups. Karen, the RCs, and John are working to gather information from secretariats so that the ideas can be shared through our website.
Lenten series assignments
John’s recommendation for sharing a Lenten series was discussed. The group agreed that each NLSEC member will share a Lenten practice – a way s/he draws closer to our Lord during this season. The sharing will be made available to the body through the NLS website and/or Facebook page.
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made, seconded, and unanimously passed.
Closing Prayer – Pastor Sue closed the meeting with prayer.
March Meeting – March 22, 2022 at 8:00pm EDT for NLS Executive Committee members and appointed committee chairpersons
Summary of Action Items
- John to confirm that the Spiritual Director PowerPoint with voice over is readily available on the website.
- Each NLSEC team member is to write or make a video about a Lenten practice to be shared with the body. Upon completion, send the end product to Amanda (nvdccommunications@gmail.com).
- John to send the list of questions that NLSEC members should use when contacting Lay Directors after March 1.
- Carolyn to send, after March 1st, the list of secretariats who have not provided their Annual Activities report as requested.
Amendment
The Town Hall has been scheduled for May 7th from 1:00 – 4:00 pm EDT. The meeting link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82047415870?pwd=bTZTbnJZT3RGVUhYU0dwejA4SG5Ndz09.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn Witham
Eric is our current Webmaster and works on the NLS Communications Team. Raised in Judaism, he found Christ and the New Testament at age 16 in a Southern Baptist Church. He searched many denominations for the real church, only to find the Holy Spirit is present in all of them. He's worked for One for Israel, a group of native Israeli believers who are sharing the gospel in the holy land in Hebrew and is part of the only Hebrew speaking seminary in Israel.
