May 21, 2026 | Deacon Meeting Minutes
Attendance: John Genskow, Pastor Ethan Luhman, Denny Denk, Mark Oldenberg, Chuck Falch, Gail Graese, Bruce Winkler, Pastor Mark Schulz, Stan Norman, Aaron Libner, Adam Urberg, Pastor David Forke, James Martin
Recording Secretary: Sue Gumz
Guest: Bill Westerlund
John Genskow opened the meeting at 6:31 pm
Pastor Mark Schulz led us in devotion on running the race to Jesus and led the board in prayer.
Consent Agenda:
• Bruce Winkler made a motion to approve the May pastoral report. Gail seconded. Motion carried.
• The deacon meeting minutes from March were approved by email vote.
Financial Report:
• Chuck Falch made a motion to approve the April Financial Report. Aaron Libner seconded. Motion carried.
Note: both giving and expenses are down, but we are still in good shape.
• Finance committee update
Budget and audit have been their topics of conversation
Standing and Ad-Hoc Committee Updates:
• Operations/Building (Chuck Falch)
Stucco work in Auditorium and Sanctuary is left. Children’s wing and office area is almost complete.
Roof for 2026-27 budget, a congregation member will help to fix classroom 4 ceiling.
• Policy (Bruce Winkler)
Nothing to report. New committee chair is needed in July
• Personnel (Denny Denk)
Peace was not able to get a vicar this year. Only half of the churches received one.
• Mission (John Genskow)
Nothing to report. A committee chair is needed in July.
• Audit (Mark Oldenberg)
Tonya’s been working on the audit. The agreed procedures will be ready for the congregational meeting in June.
Follow-Up Items:
• Vision Process Update (Pastor Ethan Luhman)
- 30 people came both nights to the vision process
- We are authentic to who we are. We have been able to identify who we are and where we want to go. Goal planning is next. Pastor Ethan asked the board to think about what measures we want to see on the pastoral report.
- Next steps: Jeff Meyer (Auxano) has been working with Pastor Ethan. Paul Zenke, Pastor Mark’s son-in-law, also has this type of training in his wheelhouse.
• Nominating Committee Update (Adam Urberg)
- Met to review the names. Contacting people to see what their interest is.
- 34 names were given for the deacons at large, 2 for chair-elect, 5 for treasurer
• Housing Allowance Adjustment (John Genskow)
- Pastor Ethan asked to increase his housing allowance to $54,000.
- This does not impact total compensation budget and is used for pastoral income tax purposes.
- Aaron Libner made a motion to approve Pastor Ethan’s housing allowance to $54,000. Denny Denk seconded. Motion carried.
New items:
• CD Renewal (Mark Oldenberg)
- CD’s are currently at 4%. The board believes that’s a good rate.
- Denny Denk made a motion to allow the finance advisory team permission to entertain the best options for us on June 18 to renew the cd for another year. Gail Graese seconded. Motion carried.
Budget (Pastor Ethan Luhman)
• $1.65 million budget proposed based on comparing end of February’s giving and attendance to previous years.
• Went over the proposed budget. Some highlights are a new organ ($45,000) – invite people to contribute to this. (Abbi, Bob Green, Sharon Reineke are involved); Strategic reserve account: $9,800. We will be increasing our social media presence.
• It will be a good idea to proactively talk about special areas that may be of concern (social media, mortgage dollars reinvesting into updating building).
• Suggestion that bottom-line budget numbers come back less than last year.
Additional comments
Next meeting: June 18 for final budget review and discuss Annual Congregational meeting agenda and responsibilities.
Aaron Libner closed the meeting in prayer.
Chuck Falch made a motion to close the meeting. Stan Norman seconded. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 8:15 pm.
Next meeting is June 18, 2026 at 6:30 pm
Congregational Meeting is June 22, 2026 at 6 pm.
