Council Corner

April 2, 2025 - Shelly Holmstrom, President

Here are some highlights from the past month and takeaways from recent Council Meetings:

We are grateful for strong worship attendance over the winter and see visitors week after week. How exciting to see more children among us! Meaningful worship services, a staffed nursery and refreshments after worship contribute to an invitational atmosphere. Community members unable to attend are able to watch live streamed or recorded services.

During this Lenten Season, we are urged to attend Wednesday evening dinners, provided by volunteers, and time for discussion with Pastor Amy before the 7:30pm Lenten vespers services. Invite your friends and neighbors to the holiest time of the liturgical year: Holy Week, starting Palm Sunday, April 13.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42

Through your faithful stewardship, we were able to send 2025 financial commitments to our ministry partners such as COOL Ministries, NCCP, Pads, Waukegan to College, Habitat, LSSI and others as approved in our budget. Volunteers serve regularly at the Food Pantry at North Chicago Community High School, served a staff luncheon there, provided baked goods for an open house at Waukegan to College, and provided Pads lunches recently. Thanks be to God!

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10

Stacy Eppel, our St. James Communications Consultant retained December 1, has been instrumental in creating communication tools to improve engagement as a church community and invite others into our midst during this liturgical season. She is also re-envisioning Connections, our weekly electronic newsletter. She has recently been given creative and content responsibility, with weekly approval from Pastor Amy and myself as Council President. Previously, responsibility for Connections had been assumed by Laurie Whisler in a volunteer capacity for the last 1.5 years. Thank you for your dedication, Laurie.

Individual Council members are adding support and input to conversations surrounding staffing needs to better align staff with our important ministries as a community of believers in Christ.

A team of IT volunteers met recently to discuss our Internet reliability, enhanced zoom meeting options, ideas for a new phone system, texting capability, and security and privacy issues. Please reach out to me if you are interested in helping.

Next week, the Nominating Committee will convene. Please contact Council@stjameslutheran.org with questions or to express interest in serving in congregational leadership positions.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 1 Corinthians 12:4

Council members appreciated the opportunity to join the LEAD Team several weeks ago to collaborate on a values exercise. Over the next few months LEAD will be solidifying information and direction, which will be shared with us at the Annual Governance Meeting, June 1st.

New at the meeting this year, will be an engaging power point presentation (in addition to the written report), capturing highlights over the past year, specific information about where St. James is headed, and details about how YOU can become engaged. Mark your calendar now to join us for a celebration lunch after the meeting.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

ST. JAMES CHURCH COUNCIL PRESIDENT’S REPORT

AUGUST 21, 2023

With Summer drawing to a close and the Fall schedule beginning soon, it is time for an update to the St. James congregation from the Church Council.

This year, the Church Council and its committees have made good communication and coordination of their efforts a priority. To accomplish this, several actions have been taken. To exchange ideas and look for ways to work together, committee chairs meet jointly every two to three months. Additionally, a financial oversight committee has been formed to facilitate discussion, planning and coordination of the various aspects of our church finances. Finally, council committees take turns in the Narthex after worship services to share information and answer questions so that our members can be aware of all aspects of St. James programs.

Church Council committees organized two summer activities that were well attended. Thanks to the Evangelism Committee, a well-attended “Family Fun Fest” was held August 5th with a variety of fun activities including filling back-to-school backpacks for COOL Ministries. The Education Committee held a “Faith In Action” week (formerly Vacation Bible School) in conjunction with Grace Methodist Church August 7-11 for children and youth. The program included the youth meeting with several of our older members to learn about faith experiences in their lives. The week was a great success. Many thanks to all of our members who volunteered their time and talents.

Changes in the church office personnel have occurred over the summer. Joan Krikau has assumed the position of Church Office Coordinator. We are glad to have her onboard. Carol Bennett has retired from part-time Office Administrator to become the volunteer church bookkeeper and will work from home. We appreciate her continued efforts. Kristin Haverkampf has resigned from the part-time position as Media and Communications Manager. We wish her the best in her future endeavors.

St. James’ fall schedule of activities will begin September 10th. This is “God’s Work, Our Hands” Sunday throughout the ELCA. Church service time at St. James will return to 10:00am. The church bulletin will return to an enlarged and more comprehensive format. A congregational service project will be set up in the Narthex after the worship service, followed by the annual Kickoff Sunday picnic.

Sunday School will begin September 17th at 8:45am followed by the children’s choir practice. This will allow both the children and adults to attend the 10:00am service every Sunday.

The St. James Stewardship Campaign will occur in October. Over the years, our congregation has been blessed by the generosity of its members. We have been able to help start and grow local ministries as well as contribute to the ELCA’s Gospel outreach and social ministries. God has abundantly provided for all of us. We ask our members to prayerfully consider increasing both their contribution of time and talents at St. James as well as their monetary contributions so that we may continue to grow our ministries. Additionally, we encourage you to invite your family and friends to join us both in worship and in our mission endeavors.

As your Council President, I welcome your comments and questions at any time. May God continue to bless St. James.

Ronald Koepke, President

St. James Lutheran Church Council

May 10- Dave Moore, President

It has been another busy and energizing month at St. James. The inspirational leadership of Pastor Amy, along with the collaborative efforts of the staff, council, committees, and volunteers, is making such a positive difference. Many wonderful things are happening and much to look forward to as we move to the Annual Governance Meeting on June 4.

Here are some highlights from the past month and takeaways from the April Council Meeting:

The season of Lent and Holy Week has to be the #1 highlight! If you have not seen Pastor Amy’s eloquent and thorough summary in the April 13 message, I recommend going back and reading it. We have much for which to be grateful.
It so great to see Worship Service attendance continue to grow. It feels good to see so many familiar faces each week and to be able to enthusiastically welcome visitors.
Each Sunday individual Committees / Ministries have been hosting the fellowship period following Worship Service. Please stop by their table to learn more about their ministry.
The Nursery is now available for families with young children. Many thanks to the volunteers who are staffing it each week. Please contact Linda Berner if you would like to learn more about becoming a volunteer.
A major THANK YOU to the Property Committee all those who participated in the Spring Clean-Up Day on April 22 and subsequent “mulching” days.The property looks fantastic and welcoming.
This past week the Committee Chairpersons got together for their quarterly meeting. It continues to be a great format for keeping everyone informed about upcoming events and uncover collaboration opportunities amongst the committees. Additionally, there was much discussion about how to better utilize the narthex to keep members informed and welcome visitors.
As mentioned in last month’s update, a top priority for Pastor Amy and the council is revitalizing our children and youth ministries for the spring and summer. This includes the Faith in Action Week scheduled for August 7 – 11 in partnership with Grace United Methodist Church.
Also, from last month, the trial for the state-of-art speakers in Sanctuary ended with a recommendation to make them a permanent addition. Council approved and we are pursuing the next steps to acquire them. An anonymous donor is covering the cost.

Finally, I appreciate all the questions, recommendations, and feedback directly and via the president@stjameslutheran.org for the Council. They also serve as a good reminder of how many wonderful things are happening – how much more we can do to serve God daily.