July, 2002

Congregational Council mini retreat
by Magne A. Hatlevik

On Sat., June 1, the Congregation Council had its first weekend mini retreat. Kari Fosse hosted the retreat at her home in Bloomington. Our vice president Cindy Peters was in charge of the agenda. Thanks to the two of you for putting together a quality event. After the retreat was over, many agreed that it was a beneficial endeavor that we need to repeat soon.

The retreat opened with a short andakt (devotion) led by Pastor Dale. Members of the group had an opportunity to say their own prayers and share their thoughts with the rest of the group.

Next, each of the council members introduced themselves and told a bit about their background. I found this part particularly helpful because the goal for the retreat was to get to know our fellow council members a bit better.

The agenda continued with a short presentation of the organizational chart of Mindekirken and the Congregation Council including the Executive Committee, the Board of Trustees, the Board of Deacons, the pastor and the staff. An attempt was made to define "the home" of the different committees at Mindekirken. I think that the organizational chart is a very important document that needs to be completed and updated at regular intervals. It should give guidelines to "who is responsible for what" within Mindekirken and therefore it will be a useful tool for both new and old members of Council and all the committees.

Cindy Peters led a "Team building" exercise. Lastly there was discussion of a wish list of goals for Mindekirken. As suspected, the list was getting long very quickly. We took a vote for the goals that we found most important. "Education for all ages including area Bible study, Norwegian language program with emphasis on the Norwegian liturgy and teaching about the Hauge tradition" had the most votes. Second was "Discussion about a children’s nursery", followed by "More weekend mini retreats", "Membership Growth" and "Youth Group". Another meeting will soon follow where we concentrate on discussion of the most important of these goals.

The Council mini retreat ended with prayer and a "pot luck" lunch.

The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church ·  924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 ·  (612)874-0716