September 17, 2026 | Deacon Meeting Minutes

Attendance: Mark Oldenberg, Vicki Doriott, Chuck Falch, Bill Westerlund, Donna Austad, Pastor Ethan Luhman, Stan Norman, Denny Denk, Riley North, Pastor David Forke, James Martin
Recording Secretary: Sue Gumz
Absent: Aaron Libner

Mark Oldenberg opened the meeting at 6:31 pm.

 Mark Oldenberg shared a devotion and prayer from Proverbs. 

Staff Introduction (Pastor David)
• Stephen Ministry - They have two new leaders, Missy Ives & Joan Treankler. There are 16-20 active Stephen Ministers but only five of them have care receivers.
• Men’s Retreat – The goal is 50. There are currently 15 signed up now plus 10 from Bethlehem.
• Men’s Ministry – The men are trying to catch up with women’s ministry.
• A Marriage Retreat is set for Spring 2027.
• Small Groups – The goal is six new groups and 40 new people. Currently have two new groups with an additional 25 active life groups. 

Consent Agenda (Mark Oldenberg)
Bill Westerlund made a motion to approve the pastoral report as it was presented. Denny Denk seconded. Motion carried.
The July Board of Deacons minutes were approved via email.

Financial Report (Vicki Doriott)
August financial reports were presented.  Chuck Falch made a motion to approve the financial report as given. Donna Austad seconded. Motion carried.
The End of Year financial report will be sent out and voted on electronically.

Standing and Ad Hoc Committee Updates

• Operations/Building (Chuck Falch)
The Stucco project is complete. The roof replacement is complete. There was a spot between original building and sanctuary that was found when the roof replacement was done. RTS has come to fix that small area. The RecZone flooring will be installed the week of Oct. 5, 2026. Staff is in the process of purchasing sound panels for the room.
• Policy (Bill Westerlund)
Bill Westerlund met with Bruce Winkler to get up to speed on where he has been going with the policy committee. The rest of his information will be covered in the training portion under new business.
• Personnel (Denny Denk)
The team (without any staff) met to discuss the staff team building/trust processes survey results. More information under follow-up items.
• Mission (Aaron Libner) – sent his report via email as he wasn’t able to attend the meeting.
- Currently forming a mission team that would meet bi-monthly.
- Peace is hosting an LCMS Adult Gathering in October which focuses on Missions.
- Supplied breakfast and lunch for Manz teachers/staff at the beginning of the school year.
- Working to restart our serving team at The Community Table.
- He is checking to make sure the money we have allocated for certain missions gets spent as we have planned and that we are also doing it in a manner which encourages congregation participation.
• Finance (Vicki)
Andy Schlafer will hold a Q & A on alternative ways to contribute to Peace on September 27th after the services, and a full presentation will be held on Monday, September 28, at 11 am.

Follow-Up Items

• Adam Urberg Replacement (Pastor Ethan/Mark Oldenberg)
Our governing documents state that when someone resigns from the board of deacons, the board can appoint someone to fill that position to complete that person’s term. The Board agreed to fill Adam’s position with the next highest vote from nominees at the annual meeting.
• Team Building/Trust Process Recommendation (James Martin)
Nine staff completed a survey. James shared the results with the personnel committee. The top 3 areas which the staff should focus on are: building trust, direct communication, and clarifying team expectations. The staff’s current trust level varies between 3-8 on a 1-10 scale, but there is a strong sense of hope from the staff that this can improve in the next year. Individual intent appears stronger than the collective experience. The personnel committee voted unanimously to bring this to the deacon board. The following is the motion from the personnel committee: “The personnel committee recommend that Peace church invest in a structured Team Development and Relationship building process by authorizing the Personnel Committee to conduct a search and evaluation of qualified external facilitators who can help strengthen trust, communication, collaboration, and team effectiveness among the staff as we prepare for the next chapter of ministry.”
Denny Denk made a motion to move forward with the team building/trust process. James Martin seconded. The motion passed.
• Staff Lunches (Mark Oldenberg)
Mark Oldenberg and Bill Westerlund will be attending. They should plan on being at Peace at noon on October 5.

New Items
Pastoral/Ministry Report Measures & Outcomes (Pastor Ethan)
Pastor Ethan presented some measures from each of our discover, grow, and go areas from July and August that he thought was worth tracking. The board suggested that maybe new worship team volunteers could be another area to track.

Training/Annual Calendar Tasks (Bill Westerlund)
The Peace Policy Manual summary has been very helpful to see what the policies address. This is a PowerPoint file. At the November meeting plan to bring a device for learning how to access the share drive for documents.

Denny Denk closed the meeting in Prayer. 

Chuck Falch made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Bill Westerlund seconded. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 pm.