Church Board Minutes 2026 06 11

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Bethel College Mennonite Church Board Minutes
June 11, 2026
Pending approval at August 2026 Board Meeting

Board Members Present: Margaret Toews, Carolyn Penner, Dennis Loepp, Tim Voth, Frank Stucky, Kathryn Simmons, Marvin Thieszen, John Waltner, Elaine Schurr

Absent with approval: Bill Eash

Staff: Nathan Koontz, Mike Claassen

  1. Welcome and Opening Prayer- Margaret read the primary task of the Board and opened with prayer. Each member of the board introduced themselves.
  2. Consent items– Approved by consensus.
  3. Financial report- Mike Claassen went over the report and answered questions. He is thinking that the congregation members who have RMD’s are giving earlier. Motion to approve made by Kathryn Simmons and seconded by Frank Stucky. Approved.
  4. Proposal from Worship/Faith Formation Commissions-The Board discussed at length the responses from the Sunday School Classes. The Board thanked them for the input. There will be no action on this proposal at this time.
  5. Approval of members to APRC-Ada Schmidt-Tieszen and Tim Voth
    A motion to approve was made by Carolyn Penner and seconded by Frank Stucky. Approved
  6. Pastoral Search update- Margaret talked with Megan about this. There are currently no MLI’s to review.
  7. AV update-There are now 2 bids.  Margaret states that there  will be 2 information sessions on August 9 and August 23 during the Sunday School hour. Jonathan Zerger and Bill Eash will present information about the proposal. The proposal will be voted on at the Congregational meeting on September 20. The consensus was to move forward with this.
  8. Fall Calendar Dates- September 20 will be the Congregational meeting and September 26 will be the Leadership Retreat from 9-12 at the Dyck Arboretum.
  9. Reports and Announcements-Jill Robb release and blessing will be during worship on June 28. SCRC has an agreement with her to be released from any church responsibilities for 1 year. Joanna will be teaching a class at Bethel this fall
  10. Other Business-Margaret feels the congregation isn’t get information about what the Board is doing. She is going to make a short summary of the meeting and have it in the Wednesday email blast.
  11. Executive session-Convened at 8:17pm.
  12. Meeting adjourned at 8:20 pm.  Next meeting is August 6, 2026

Submitted by Elaine Schurr, Clerk