2026 January NL: Stewardship & Evangelism Team Minutes

January 3, 2026
Stew. & Evang. Team Minutes

December 1, 2025 at 5:00 p.m.

Members Present: Mel Reichwald, Darrell Ruege, Pastor Chris Byars, Dawn Byars, Ruth Boyd

Mel opened the meeting with a prayer about Family
Dawn read the minutes from the last meeting

Business Addressed:

  1. There will be no Harvest Fest next year, so we will not need to do the Bake Sale there, maybe somewhere else as it was a good event. Total brought in was $426
  2. Veteran’s Day OJ’s certificates: we do have 2 left over, holding on to them in the Ministry Folder
  3. Cantata Performance Plate passing: the Byars Littles (Harrison, Roslyn, and William) will be passing the plates. Rachel and Erik will be assisting them at whichever performance they come to. We will check in with adults at each performance to see if they would be willing to assist. We will have a place up front to put the plates once they are collected and will need to make sure the money is taken up before we leave the sanctuary after each performance.
  4. Future actions and things to keep on our radar:
    1. We have some upcoming tech needs – the main office computer is aging out, the streaming computer is as well, and we would like to do some security upgrades like parking lot and lobby cameras. Cost estimates around $5,000. We’ll need to think up ways to cover such costs. Noted that the Roof Pledge Drive was a major success!
    2. There are some talks with Telford on what it would cost to get a generator that could keep the electricity on at St. John’s in the event of a major outage. We could continue to run services and studies but could also set up as a Safe Spot for others without power. This would require us to think about a whole set of logistics. There are various grants we could apply for to help cover some of the cost.
    3. We want to start brainstorming and thinking about ministries and activities that we, as a Stewardship and Evangelism team, would like to see happen.
      1. Ideas thrown out: More community and congregational involvement with helping stock the Food Pantry, Developing a life-coaching/grief support type ministry, Host another Strong Bodies class

Meeting adjourned with the Lord’s Prayer.

Next Meeting Date: January 5 at 5:00 p.m.
Submitted by Dawn Byars