Ongoing Ambassadors for Christ

Board of Directors

Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, Galesburg, IL

January 6-7, 2006

Board Members Present:

Pastor Dan Smith, Chairman                              Debbie McBee 

Katie Jeppesen, Secretary                                  Sarah Grewe    

Nathan Ruppert                                                 Melissa Shore

Ben Venteicher                                                 Noah Elmshauser                     

 

The meeting was called to order by Chairman, Pastor Dan Smith at 9:11 a.m. CST. Everyone joined in singing OAFC songs, led by Pastor Daniel Smith playing guitar. Pastor David Loeschen shared a devotion about the gifts of the magi based on the text from Matthew 2.

 

REPORTS

 

Secretary’s Report

Pastor David Loeschen noted that he was not at the November 20, 2005 meeting as the minutes stated. David Loeschen made a motion that the minutes from both the October 2, 2005 and November 20, 2006 be approved with the correction that Pastor David Loeschen was not at the November 20, 2005 meeting. Debbie McBee seconded the motion.

 

Treasurer’s Report

Pastor Ruhlig shared a list of duties he completed as treasurer and office worker for OAFC information and future use. Pastor Ruhlig led the Board through an itemized cash flow record.

Total Inflows                 $  93,694.48

Total Outflows              $  96,154.57

Overall Total                 $   -2,460.09

Pastor Ruhlig reported that the Crier was now being printed by Quick Silver Bulk Mailing Company. A bid for the piano scorebook from Gooch Printing was reported. He shared his progress in finding a home for the remaining van owned by OAFC located in Colorado. Pastor Ruhlig explained the contract that was proposed to Risen Savior Lutheran Church to take the deed to the Colorado OAFC van. Pastor David Loeschen moved that the board accept the Treasurer’s Report as submitted. Sarah Grewe seconded the motion. The motion carried.

 

Assistant Director’s Report - Mr. Dan Barz

Dan Barz’s written report was reviewed. He spoke directly about his efforts to keep the website updated. The statistics for all the OAFC weekends were handed out. Dan Barz has plans to send out invitations for Summer Training to Ambassadors who have attended a New Years Gathering or Summer Training previously. Plans and various information Dan Barz had for Summer Training 2006 were communicated to the rest of the Board. Dan Barz expressed the importance of OAFC working with Thrivent to receive matching funds. He has been speaking directly to youth asking them to support OAFC with $10 that can be matched along with their volunteer time. Nathan Ruppert moved that the board accept the Assistant Director’s Report. Sarah Grewe seconded the motion. The motion carried. The Assistant Director’s Report is attached (pages 5-7).

 

New Year’s Reports

Fort Wayne, Indiana – There were 71 in attendance. A local member a Jehovah’s Witness group spoke at the event about his beliefs. His presentation was followed by a Seminarian who had previous been a member of this non-Christian cult and explained some of the differences between Christians/Lutherans and Jehovah’s Witnesses.    

Rapid City, South Dakota –Ben Venteicher gave a verbal report. There were four teams and about 55 people in attendance. A member of the Wicca organization spoke at the event about his religion and another speaker spoke about church work in the Lutheran church.

 

OLD BUSINESS

 

Insurance and Background Checks

Background checks on youth leaders are expected by many parents for safety of their children. Pastor Ruhlig pointed out that background checks only show whether someone has been caught. Discussion occurred on who needed to have background checks and whether they were effective and useful. Pastor Loeschen reminded the Board that people are sinful. Boy Scout leaders have to fill out a sheet about their background and then the organization completes a background check. Filling out a form about their background would only take a few minutes; it could even be done at a weekend or at Summer Training. Pastor Loeschen was appointed by the chairman to develop a background form for leaders within OAFC groups.

 

Piano Scorebooks

A great deal of discussion occurred considering the printing of 1,000 piano scorebooks. Board members were unsure that these scorebooks would be used up. Debbie McBee moved that OAFC order the printing of 1,000 piano scorebooks. Pastor Loeschen seconded.  The motion carried.

 

College Age Concerns

Board members felt that the discussion and work in the area of college age concerns had been successful. Four college age/young adult leaders led teams at Summer Training and New Years events this year.

 

Survey

Many members of the Board felt that question 6, “As a child, what were you taught about God?” could upset people at the door and make them defensive. Debbie McBee and Ben Venteicher were concerned about introducing yourself at the door as being “with” a congregation because ambassadors are not usually from the area. The optional question “How do you get right with God?” from line 9 infers works righteousness and so is theological incorrect. Pastor Loeschen moved that the survey be approved as submitted by Dan Barz with the follow changes:

removal of question 6, “As a child, what were you taught about God?”;

the response for question 7 changed to read “may someone from [host church] bring you a Bible;”

question 8 will read “As I said before my name is___;”  

question 1 will read “We are with/representing ___ Lutheran Church;”

removal of the optional question “How do you get right with God?” from line 9;

“I’d like to share the Good News...” in line 11 is changed to “May I share the Good News…;”

and the second sentence of line 11 changed to read “may I use your first name?”

Nathan Ruppert seconded the motion and the motion carried.

 

NEW BUSINESS

 

Summer Training

            Opening Service Planned by OAFC

                        At the January meeting in 2005 a resolution was past that the Executive Director would plan the opening service in consultation with the host pastor. This resolution remains in effect.

Theme Suggestions

            Jeremiah 1 – “Formed, Called, Anointed”

Dan Barz suggested this but he wanted to save it for a later date when someone from Lutherans for Life would speak again.  

            Hebrews 13:20-21 – “Equipped to do His Will”

            1 Corinthians 3:18-4:2 – “God’s Wisdom v. Man’s Wisdom” or “Sophomores; Entrusted with the Wisdom of God”

            Joshua 1:9 – “Be Strong in the Lord”  

            Isaiah 40:31 – “Soaring on Eagles Wings”

Several members of the board wanted to pick a theme that would fit the location. There is an Air Force Base close to the 2006 Summer Training site.  Katie Jeppesen moved that the Summer Training 2006 theme be “Equipped to do His Will” from Hebrews 13:20-21. Ben Venteicher seconded. The motion carried. The idea of being equipped can be related to military training.

Main Speaker Suggestions                                     

Church v. State Issues  

Jay Sekulo

            Kay Ore (former governor of Nebraska)

            Kevin Wycliffe

Creation

            Brian Young

Ablaze

            Bob Roggener

Other topics and leader suggestions

Find a LC-MS military chaplain, maybe someone who has been in Iraq

Popular culture

Dale Meyer—President of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis

Dr. Mark Meehl—Concordia, Seward

Professor Dirk Reek—Concordia, Seward

Workshops   

Amy Paulsen (could also bring in Concordia representation)

Jim Found

Mike Scudder

Dan Smith-Liturgy

Pastor Loeschen-Witnessing with things around you

Travel Team Leader Suggestions

Directors—Micah Wildauer, Pastor Dan Smith, Chris Amen, Pastor Paul Becker

Assistants—Pam Ruddick, Brent Watson, Matt Tassey, Kyle McBee, Sue Tarr, Beth Barnes, Katie Jeppesen, Leslie Guengerich, Margret Mantuefel, Rebecca Lehenbauer, Jamie Louderback

Master of Ceremony Suggestion

Jon Moyer

Annual Meeting Agenda, July 14, 2006

Call to order

Opening Devotions

Summer Training Theme message

Other Announcements

Upcoming New Years Gatherings

Financial Report           

Introduction of Travel Teams

Mass Canvass Report

Election Results

Installation of Officers

Invitation to Summer Training 2007

Closing Prayer

Adjournment

The agenda for the annual meeting 2006 was approved by unanimous consent. 

Nominations for Board

Pastor                                     Adult Male                            Male Youth                           Female Youth

Pastor Tim Mueller              Benjamin Debrick                 Jon Plucker                            Laura Rooney

Pastor Jim Gruber                 Dennis Steele                        Jacob Onnen                         Amy Koehler

Pastor Daniel Smith             Edgar Steele                          Paul Schlake                          Mallory Hicks

Pastor Paul Becker               Matthew Tassey                  Paul Mueller                          Caitin Worden

                                                Matthew Drefs                     Nathan Blair                          Abbey Zenk

                                        Orval Peters                          Nolan Jacobson

                                                Trey Fisk

                                                Ben Venteicher

                                               

Summer Training 2007

At present, OAFC does not have a host site for Summer Training 2007. It was discussed that Lincoln, NE might be a good site for Summer Training 2007. Dan Barz will speak to Benjamin Debrick in Seward about this possibility.

 

Medical Release Forms

Debbie McBee explained to the Board of Directors that Medical Release forms are not effective if they are not notarized. It was discussed that OAFC should require medical release forms to be notarized. Debbie McBee will research and seek to address this matter.

 

Planning and Advancement of OAFC

            Pastor Ruhlig guided the board members through a document with ideas and concerns about growth. Pastor David Loeschen felt the Youth Leadership Manuel needs to be updated and the rest of the board agreed. Pastor Loeschen moved that the board update and revise the Youth Leadership manual. Noah seconded the motion and the motion carried. A committee was formed to revise the Youth Manual that included Pastor Loeschen, Ben Venteicher, Noah Elmshauser, and Melissa Shore. The committee will report at the April meeting.

Pastor Erwin Ruhlig thought it would be useful to give experienced youth an adult leadership manual. Katie Jeppesen expressed an interest in Pastor Erwin Ruhlig’s idea that leadership training events. These chould be held to both encourage old leaders as well as train new leaders. Pastor Loeschen spoke of the desire to hold alumni gatherings for OAFC to encourage OAFC growth through them. Debbie McBee desired such an event occur at or before Summer Training. Another idea was to have such even around the time of a Pastoral conference.

Pastor David Loeschen reminded the Board how useful it is for groups to let the youth speak for OAFC at things like District Conventions and Youth Gatherings.

Nathan Ruppert announced that he will soon retire from his present job and volunteered his shop for the use of OAFC as an office when Pastor Erwin Ruhlig is no longer to serve.

 

Youth Giving Through Thrivent

Pastor Ruhlig brought up the idea of encouraging youth ambassadors to give $10 dollars to OAFC to be matched along with their volunteer hours. When ambassadors are commissioned they promise to give to OAFC financially. Pastor Loeschen moved that OAFC communicate opportunities to Ambassadors to contribute financially to OAFC, including special days (i.e. birthday, holiday, baptismal birthday, etc) and Thrivent matching opportunities. Katie Jeppesen seconded the motion and the motion carried.

 

Thrivent

Dan Barz offered to create a help sheet for leaders seeking Thrivent support. Thrivent support is wonderful for OAFC, but forms often need to be comepleted early. The process can be confusing or seem complicated to some leaders, so Dan Barz wants to help make the process easier.

 

Review of Goals for 2006

Pastor Loeschen moved that the Board of Directors table the review of OAFC goals for 2006 until OAFC has a new Executive Director. Ben Venteicher seconded the motion and the motion carried.

 

Selecting an Executive Director

In preparation for the Board to pick a candidate for the position of Executive Director, Pastor Ruhlig shared several documents with information and ideas about the position of Executive Director. The board reviewed the list of candidates that Pastor Ruhlig had shared at the November meeting. Micah Wildauer was removed from the list because he has not yet graduated from seminary. Hubert Grieves was added to the list and Nathan Ruppert spoke about communication he had had with Pastor Grieves about OAFC.

Board members discussed what OAFC needs the Executive Director to be. Members expressed the need for the Executive Director to have a passion for OAFC ministry and represent OAFC to the world. He would also be the authority figure. The Board vocally discussed the candidates on the list and some names were removed [David Bueltmann (running for CID president re-election), Joel Heck (limited recent involvement), Robert Hill (limited recent involvement), Dale Lehfeldt (limited recent involvement and age), and John Stubenrouch (limited recent involvement)]. Information was shared about the remaining candidates by various members of the Board.

There was discussion whether OAFC needs to or can extend a call. The constitution says that the Executive Director should be a called Pastor, but the constitution assumes that the Executive Director would be a full-time position. It is proposed that a contract position should be extended rather than a call because this is only a part-time position for someone already serving another call. This would be a vacancy position and David Loeschen advocated for the term interim. It was decided that a minimum involvement would be 5 hours a week, participation in 6 full weekends, 1 OAFC Board meeting in January, and participation in Summer Training.

Pastor David Loeschen and Pastor Dan Smith left the room when the voting began. Members of the Board voted for three candidates off the list. Scott Sundbye gleaned the most votes, with Herbert Grieves taking the seconded highest number of votes, and David Loeschen the third. Katie Jeppesen moved for a unanimous ballot for Scott Sunbye. Debbie seconded the motion and the motion carried. Noah moved that Hertbert Grieves be our second choice. Melissa Shore seconded the motion and the motion carried. Ben Venteicher moved that David Loeschen be the third choice for the contract position of Executive Director. Noah seconded the motion and the motion carried.  It was decided that Pastor Dan Smith would communicate with Pastor Scott Sundbye to extend the contract position of Executive Director to him. Pastor Loeschen moved that if it was desirous of Pastor Sundbye to meet with Pastor Dan Smith and Dan Barz travel arrangements would be paid for by OAFC. Sarah seconded the motion and the motion carried.

 

Budget

Sarah Grewe moved to accept the budget as presented by Pastor Erwin Ruhlig, a spending budget of 109,000 and an expected income of 95,000 with the spending difference to come from savings. Ben Venteicher seconded the motion and the motion carried.   

 

The next Board Meeting will be held on Sunday, April 9, 2006 at 8 p.m. CST via teleconference.

                                                                                                                                                            

Pastor moved that the meeting be adjoured. Ben Venteicher seconded the motion and the motion carried. 

Meeting was adjourned on January 7, 2006 at 3:07 pm CST. Member of the board sang the Lord’s Prayer.

 

Submitted in Christ’s Service,

Katie Jeppesen – Secretary

 

Ongoing Ambassadors for Christ

Assistant to the Executive Director, Daniel Barz

Annual Report to the OAFC Board of Directors

January 2006

 

Each year is filled with many events and God’s continued blessings. This was true for A.D. 2005. OAFC celebrated 35 years of serving God in sharing the Good News of Jesus. We have suffered some setbacks and yet have kept our focus on our three-fold purpose.

 

The Crier – in 2005 we printed two editions. The electronic Crier was updated at least each month. As is true for the electronic media, we can provide many and ongoing changes, but it is difficult to document and keep copies.

 

The OAFC Web Site www.oafc.org – We are making progress in both updating the home page on at least a weekly basis and the Prayer & Praise page as frequently. It is my dream to greatly increase the use of the site, perhaps by providing a daily “verse of the day” and maybe a short devotion or personal witness. Many have used our web site to register for Summer Training and the New Years Gatherings.

 

Goals – After our 2005 meeting I compiled a list of Goals for the year. The best use was for striving to move forward and periodic review.

 

OAFC Weekends – The core of our ministry is in the local weekends. Our local group had been blessed with a full schedule, but then we lost several weekends. Most of those months were filled with other activities. Nationally we seemed to be a bit behind both previous years and our average. A statistics summary by group was compiled the end of December.

 

Summer Training – had a much smaller group in 2005 with many who registered being unable to attend. (Is it possible that with the ease of on line registration, more will go ahead and register even when they are not sure they can attend.) With the motto “each one bring one” we are hoping that we can bring 2006 up to previous numbers. We must also note that much of the lower number was due to the small number of “first timers.”

 

†        2006 is being hosted in Midwest City, OK. The local leaders have an idea for the theme. Nathan Ruppert has a couple more ideas. I would also suggest the one I had last year – but it would see best with a speaker from LFL. Perhaps it could be saved for 2007.

†        Speakers – Orval has several ideas for possible speakers. I would like to see if we might get someone from Ablaze. I think that could have a two way benefit in both of us getting to know each other better.

†        For 2007 we do not yet have a host site, although Lincoln, Nebraska has been mentioned. Ideally it would be nice if we could be more in the south so that we would be closer to the National Youth Gathering now planned for Orlando. 2008 could be in  Champaign, Illinois.

 

New Contacts – Many continue to contact us with the full list is on a 5 page document. In 2005 we were able to schedule local weekends or travel stops for most of these contact.

 

2006 Travel Teams – Orval has suggested that we send two teams to Oklahoma, another to Texas and a fourth team to Louisiana where we have been requested in Alexandria. Perhaps that team could also do a few days of service along the Gulf Coast. If we would do this, team members would need to apply specifically for that team and the team could be extended a few extra days.

 

Alumni – We continue to work at adding to our alumni list which now stands at about 150. One point of discussion is to gather a group who could work through alumnus Woody Keim to do some Katrina relief work in or around New Orleans.

 

Travels – One of the joys of my ministry is that I am either at home or I get to travel to meet many Ambassadors, pastors and church members around the country. 2005 trips included meeting with a pastor and church with interest in starting OAFC in the South Miami circuit, and ST trips to Wisconsin and Oklahoma. Ambassadors at Concordia Seward, Mequon, River Forest and Ann Arbor were also visited. Ann Arbor would like me to come each semester.

†        While months vary greatly a couple examples of travel include last October when I attended church in 5 locations for 2 OAFC events, a ST meeting and Homecoming in Seward, finally getting to my church on Reformation Sunday.

†        This January was started on the road with the New Years Day service in Garrett, IN, the next Sunday in Galesburg (before traveling to Seward to deliver furniture for Rachel and for a quick visit with Ambassadors there), a trip to St. Louis to meet with Apple of His Eye, and a weekend in Charlotte, MI.

 

Apple of His Eye – We have been invited to attend a meeting with Apple of His Eye ministry to discuss ideas for outreach before the next LCMS convention in Houston. This meeting is to take place the morning of January 16. That could also be a good time to visit the Ablaze office to discuss better contacts there.

 

Ablaze – My personal opinion of Ablaze is that it can be a good encouragement for ALL LCMS Christians and means nothing different for our activities, only adding a small amount to our report. However, I am somewhat frustrated that we get any direct communication from them.

 

Spring Break Travel Teams – While it was not very spring like, we did again take out a small team to Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. Seward Ambassadors made a trip around Nebraska. In 2006 one trip is planned for Northern Illinois with another group again requested by Florida. Seward, River Forest and Ann Arbor have the same spring breaks for 2006 while Mequon and Austin share the same time.

 

College Age Teams – In the past teams were sent out for a year or a semester. It would seem that they would offer great opportunities for growth. These teams could visit areas a couple times during a semester to get a group off to a good start. Discussions with college ambassadors has found some interested in such teams and thoughts that a spring team would work best for those who graduate or complete school in December.

 

District Resolutions – In previous years some districts have passed resolutions to encourage participation in OAFC. While they might not have the results we would like, presenting such resolutions could help more know about and support OAFC. A sample resolution is attached and has been presented to those at New Years Gatherings. It would be ideal if every congregation and pastor that has supported OAFC to present this resolution.

 

Thrivent Support – has become a great blessing to our ministry. Not only do have we benefited during summer training, but we also can increase support through local weekends. The local Thrivent chapter can match up to $1600 from a local weekend or activity. It would seem best if each group would seek to either match one large offering or might match multiple weekends in different chapters. I have discovered that chapters like the amount of hours we can offer, but we need to do some planning ahead.

 

Personal Items

†        As most of you know we will be celebrating 2 weddings in 2006. I will be taking a few vacation days around Lisa and Jon’s wedding in February and will take the week after Rachel and Joel’s wedding as we will also have a Barz family gathering following their wedding. My plan is to leave early Monday morning at the end of ST. We are sorry that we did not urge them to wait another week so that the wedding would not be during travel teams. (Because this includes TT time, I will plan on being “on call” through my cell phone during this time.)

†        I plan to take out a SBTT again in March. At this time it would seem that I would join the team in Florida so that we could work at getting a group started there.

†        We plan on a week of vacation during the local school spring break to catch Rachel’s senior recital and visit my parents.

†        Our local group has been blessed with a full schedule through July of 2006. In January, I will be meeting with local pastors to discuss our ministry. Filling a local schedule is no longer a problem, but getting enough weekends in our immediate area is more of a challenge.  As with all groups we also need more leaders.