Elders

The Board of Elders is a group of men who work with the pastors and other servants of the church to support the spiritual life of the congregation. They help to maintain faithful worship, teaching, and individual care of members.

Ushers

The ushers at our Saturday and Sunday services have important roles both to assist worshipers and to protect them. We have usher teams for each service. If you are interested in serving as an user, please contact Bruce Cross (618-670-0880). Usher Guidelines

Brief Monthly Meeting Notes

March 2, 2020
We discussed a Barna survey about the importance of church membership. Compared to the average American church, GSLC has a high rate of membership. We are planning another active shooter drill in the fall. We will reactivate the Youth Advisory Committee that would involve pastors, elders, parents, and youth. Music Director Chris Loemker would like to purchase a new piano for the balcony. The total cost is $18,000. We would trade in the current piano for $4,500 plus $1,500 for a piano that was donated. The rest of the cost has been covered by special, above tithe donations.

February 3, 2020
We reviewed a section from Pastor Michael Salemink's Life Sunday Bible Study which showed the importance of elder calls. Persistent efforts on the part of elders led his father to become an active Christian and eventually a pastor. We discussed potential changes to the youth ministry with Youth Director Tom Westphal. Due to changes in the ministry and the congregation it seems best consider moving to a half-time position. We are also considering a partnership with another church for youth ministry.

January 6, 2019
The church app is ready to be released publicly. The eNewsletter will be cut back to once or twice a month. We discussed upcoming events: Life Sunday with Brian Salemink and music concert with Jennie Williamson (Lutheran Schools Week). We discussed using former elders, teachers, and other board chairman as communion assistants. We discussed potential reductions to our ministries (Women & Children, Parish Nurse, Music Director, and Youth and Family Life) for the sake of good stewardship. We will have a security presentation by the Collinsville Police Department on Saturday, January 18th.

December 2, 2019
Pastor Walther presented the "What We Believe" brochure discussed last month. The brochure will help those who participate in our ministry programs understand our beliefs so there are no misunderstandings. We discussed efforts to start warming centers in Collinsville through the Collinsville Area Ministerial Association. We discussed the need to educate the congregation about stewardship and our financial situation.

November 4, 2019
We had a parent's meeting for confirmation. This will be one of our smallest classes. We've decided not to move refreshments to the Narthex on a regular basis. We can do it on special Sundays. A question came up through one of our ministries about folks who may be living in a sinful lifestyle. How do we help people and yet not give them the impression we approve of all that they do? We will prepare a brochure to share our beliefs to avoid misunderstandings.

October 7, 2019
We continue our work on the app. We hope to be ready by November. Tom Westpha is editing and uploading the sermon videos. l am planning meet with the folks who set up the Bible class refreshments before we try to move them to the narthex. A member has donated seats and hardware for the youth van. Tom will install them. A mega abortion clinic is opening in Fairview Heights. Jennifer Buchanan led HarvestFest - thanks! We discussed our security measures.

September 4, 2019
We have spent a lot of time working on the church app. We've received a lot of positive feedback on the bulletin. Some elders thought we could hand out the bulletins and announcements together. We discussed procedures for helping with the Sunday School.

August 19, 2019
We are continuing work on the church app. In September we'll begin using a larger bulletin (11x17) with the announcements on a separate sheet. We discussed challenges because of the budget shortfall. Carol Walther will go back to volunteer status. We are working on recruitment for Sunday School by keeping track of potential attendees and sending notes.

July - No Meeting

June 3, 2019
Lee Hoffmeier began with a devotion about the benefit of singing in the church. Pastor Walther will be attending the Issues Etc. Conference in Chicago this weekend. Seminarian Ryan Maser will lead the Family Campout Service. We discussed some potential bulletin style changes and having refreshements in the Narthex (ideas from the Leader's Retreat). We would like to enlist the elders and Board of Outreach members to help with Sunday School. We discussed elders making telephone calls in addition to our elder visits to provide different ways of keeping in contact with our members.

May 6, 2019
We had over two hundred attending the Easter Family Bible Study, Breakfast, Egg Hunt. Pastor Walther and Jeannie Lomax presented 180 signatures opposing the abortion bills being considered to Rep Katie Stewart. Will begin a new summer Bible study, "The Church in Exile - a Study of 1 Peter." We formed committees to go over the time and tasks sheets for our staff members and for this year's scholarships. We are working on developing a Music Committee. We will have a love offering for the Pritchard family. We approved a tentative Elder's budget (Basic Totals: Salaries $357K, Benefits $195K, Operating Expenses $56K).

April 8, 2019
Pastor Walther and six other members attended the Pro-Life Rally in Springfield. The large crowd shut down the Capital Rotunda. We discussed some youth goals that Pastor Walther and Tom Westphal have addressed. We have had quite a few very sick members in the last few months. We are beginning our work on the Elder's budget.

March 4, 2019
Upcoming Bible studies starting March 17th: Creation (Lower Level) and The Servant Songs of Isaiah (Sanctuary). Our field worker Ryan Maser has finished his Adult Bible study and has done a good job. We made a decision to move confirmation to the last Sunday of April. This will give us a lot of consistency for our teaching. Pastor Walther shared an experience he had helping a homeless person at Anderson Hospital. We will ask all church staff to review their job descriptions and update them. They will also fill out a time and task log for two weeks.

February 4, 2019
We are updating our aid policy for transients after helping a Canadian January 27th (Congregational Life). We discussed whether Christians should take a stand against the legalization of Marijuana. We would like to work with our staff to see who can do help with the increasing technology work (website, eNewsletter, social media, digital sign, etc.). We nominated Matt Harrison for LCMS President and Ben Ball for Regional Vice-President. Pastor Adle and Zach Stegman will be our electors for the presidential election. We shared Pastor Mueller's letter announcing his acceptance of his call to St. James in Glen Carbon (see St. James Mission Page). We will have a love offering for the Muellers February 10th. We discussed the question of early communion. We reviewed the schedule for the March Leadership Retreat.

January 7, 2019
In a slowly dying world this is a good truth for us: "The path of the just is like the shining sun that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day" (Prov. 4.18). All the difficulties of life are countered by God's blessings. Technology is an important facet of ministry now. But we must always encourage the ultimate ministry of face to face contact. We see this in John's second letter (1.12)" I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face..." We discussed the Christmas services and cantata. We also went over ministry goals for the past year and coming years. We discussed the upcoming Leadership Retreat.

December 3, 2018
We reviewed the Stewardship Letter which was sent this month. The letter emphasized some of the challenges and opportunities we face in the coming year. We worked out the audio bugs on the sermon videos. We will begin an evangelism Bible study in January. We reviewed our final plans for Christmas services.

November 5, 2018
We have many challenges and opportunities. We discussed the changes in attendance for this year. We will have a decrease of 100. Most of this is due to our support for the revitalization of St. James. But it is also part of a downward trend which is clearly seen in all the churches in the St. Louis area. We are planning a Leadership Retreat sometime early next year. We are working on video taping the Sunday sermons. We moved a number of members who haven't worshiped in more than two years to the Other Than Active List. Those who have been on the OTA list for several years are eventually Released. We reviewed our practice of Special Sundays (LWML, Life, Armed Forces, etc.) encouraging groups to set up displays and use handouts.

October 1, 2018
In a world where immorality is celelbrated and morality is ridiculed and condemned, Peter gives us good direction as he encouraged us to focus on faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, and love (2 Peter 1.5-8). Dr. Ken Wesemann, who grew up at GSLC, will be offering Christian counseling here. The Christmas Eve Services will be at 4:00 p.m.; 5:30 p.m. (with Children's Service); and 11:00 p.m. We will discontinue the Elder Care Groups. Members normal We plan to meet with the leaders of St. James, Glen Carbon to see how their call process is going. Pastor Walther is working on confirmation videos. Tim Schnicker as served two terms as chairman. The Elders would like to nominate Bruce Cross for the next chairman.

September 5, 2018
We discussed the sexual abuse issues in the Catholic Church. All of us face tempations. But the important thing is to follow God's word which makes it clear that people should marry unless they have a special gift to be single. Pastors were married until 1139 A.D. This was an important issue in the Reformation which pointed to the greater issue: What authority does the Bible have for the church? We noted a family who will be joining our church after listening to Issues Etc. We have several families who have been influenced in that way. We discussed the challenges Christians are facing in the increasingly pagan culture of America. Work, leisure, marriage, family, and politics are all becoming areas in which our faith is being challenged. Ben Prohl is our new First Year Field Worker.

August 6, 2018
Jesus often retreated to the wilderness for rest. Vacations are a good time for us to experience the goodness of God's creation and to receive rest. We reviewed the scholarships ($71,558 from GSLC, Budgeted $55,000). Will ask the Council to handle the difference. Check out the webpages for two youth events (Higher Things and Charlotte, NY). After reviewing Mr. Stegman's work load, we recommend that 5th & 6th youth responsibilities be given to Mr. Westphal. Pastor Walther is working on a new member video that goes over the basic teachings of the faith. Pastor Adle is working on the Church Policy Manual. Pastor Walther is finishing the Burning Questions webpage and will contact the twenty somethings about it this fall. We are scheduling a meeting with the leaders of St. James to see how that mission is going. Work continues on the Balcony. Flooring removed. Panelling going up. Railing is being fabricated and will be installed soon.

June 4, 2018
When Jesus said, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish..." Notice that He didn't say, "should not suffer..." Suffering can be punishment for sin (Isaiah 13.11), or it can be a testing of faith (Matthew 4.4). When suffering, we do well to Worship, Work, and Wait. We discussed the importance of congregational singing even though our culture is moving away from singing music to listening to music. We met with the leaders of St. James in May. They know they need to begin the call process, but they are concerned that their membership numbers are still low. They are working to increase their number of elders and to start a self-evaluation for the call process. We discussed the children's music directors' need for a day off or keeping the weekly work average no more than 55 hours per week. We also looked at his compensation and want to make sure that it is appropriate for the work that he is doing. We discussed the Supreme Court decision that a baker in Colorado could not be forced to provide a wedding cake for a gay wedding. This is a good sign for religious freedom in our country. We approved salaries for the church secretary, children's music director, youth director, and pastors.

May 7, 2018
A recent funeral reminds us how quickly an accident can take away life. It is important for Christians to remember the words of King David, "There is but a step between me and death" (1 Samuel 20.3). We discussed a question posed by someone whether a Bible class group not associated with a church could celebrate communion. This will be a future "Ask the Pastor Question" for Adult Bible Class. The Burning Questions Bible Study is finishing. We will have a special webpage with notes from this class. We discussed the last Security Team meeting and continue to work on security policies. Seminarian Anthony DiLiberto will be ordained here in July. We will have a meeting with the leaders of St James-Glen Carbon to determine the next best steps for our revitalization efforts there. We have also begun work on our spending guidelines. A reminder that Wednesday we will celebrate the Ascension with Holy Cross at Holy Cross. Pastor Adle will be preaching. This is a great way for our congregations to work together.