Minister’s Musings

Minister’s Musings
It has not been easy to sit down and write my final musings. Isaac
keeps asking me if I’m going to miss...fill in the blank...as different min- Minden United Church of Christ
istry events happen. Of course, I’m going to miss many aspects of be-
Pastor Brian Wohlhuter
ing pastor. I have been extremely blessed to serve a wonderful church.
Phone 712-483-2903
As I have said many times, when Tracy and I started we figured we
106 Lincoln St. Box 218,
would be here a couple years and then move on to bigger and better
Minden, IA 51553
opportunities. Little did we know God had better plans. We absolutely
Web page: mindenucc.com
fell in love with the church family, and the community, and we quickly
Email: mindenucc@walnutel.net
understood that the best place for us was right here.
Published December 1, 2021

As I reflect on the ministry we did together, I am most grateful for the grace and mercy you all showed me and my fam-
ily. I am sure I made many mistakes along the way and could have done and handled aspects of my job differently.
Along the way you were willing to roll with my dad jokes and work with me and my family to build a wonderful church
family. I loved bragging about you guys to my ministry friends. Never once did I hear, “that’s not how we do it here,” or
“that won’t work.” Your willingness to be open and try new things allowed our ministry to grow.
It is my sincere hope you will show that same grace and willingness to do new/different things to your new pastor.
She, or he, will have different ideas on how to do ministry. Do not tell him/her that isn’t how Pastor Brian used to do it.
Allow them the same room to grow and make mistakes as you did me. I believe that is the greatest gift you can give a
pastor. And you never know, your new pastor may have some better ideas on how to do ministry than I did!
Now that we have the sappy thank-you's out of way I want to give you one last sermon! If you are reading this, and not
a regular worship attender, then I would ask you what is keeping you from doing so. If you support the church, and like
the idea of the church being around, then you need to be there on Sunday mornings. Do you like the idea of having a
Sunday school, a food pantry, a youth group, weddings, funerals, church auction, pastoral care, etc.? If you want any
of those ministries to continue then you need to be in the pews on Sunday morning on a regular basis.
Being part of the church family means worshipping together. Financial support is important, helping with church auc-
tion is important, helping with fundraisers is important, volunteering at other times is important too. The most im-
portant thing you can do to help the church grow and flourish is to worship with your fellow Christians on Sunday. The
church will not flourish and survive if you are not in the pews on Sunday. A church can have all the money in the
world, but if Sunday mornings are bare the church will struggle to stay viable. You can name any excuse you want for
not coming...sleep in, not happy with a vote, not happy with actions of other members, but none of them hold water
when you consider what Jesus did for you on that cross. Imagine telling Jesus why you aren’t in church on Sunday,
and what his response would be.
I know there are some hard feelings from the congregational meetings this summer. I also know we are a church full
of imperfect people. Learn to forgive and remember that you are there to worship Jesus not your neighbor in the pew.
As my family and I look for a new church to worship in, one of the biggest impressions will be who is in worship on
Sunday. If we see a church full of older people with very few young families in it, we most likely won’t be back no mat-
ter what their other ministries might be. Same for our church...you want to see more people like you involved in the
church...those people need to see you there. Your church family needs you to be there on Sunday...will you answer
the bell?
Mark Your Calendar

December 5
Informational Meeting in the Fellow-
ship Hall
December 12
Congregational Meeting on
Budget. Land Proposal, and
Search Committee vote
December 19 10:00 AM
Children’s Christmas
Program
Pot Luck for Wohlhuter family
following the Christmas Program
December 24 6:00 PM
Christmas Eve Service
December 26 & January 2
No Sunday School
January 9
Sunday School Resumes
Annual Congregational Meeting
 Christmas Program information you need to know.
Practices
Sunday, Dec. 5 (10:00 – 11:20) Run through show in Fel-
lowship Hall and in the Sanctuary following the Church ser-
vice (10:00 – 11:20). Parents are invited to the Fellowship Marsha Grandick
Hall to enjoy time visiting with fellow parishioners during Superintendent
Phone: 402-639-5161
practice.
Email:
Sunday, Dec. 12 (10:00 – 11:00) Final costume check, marshagrandick@yahoo.com
Run through show in Fellowship Hall
Performance
Sunday, Dec. 19 (9:30 – 11:00) Christmas Program.
Please have your child/children at the church by 9:30 a.m.
The program will begin at 10:00. Don’t forget to invite family
and friends to our program. The children have been working
hard singing and dancing to help put everyone into the Christ-
mas Spirit.
Apparel: Please be sure that your child/children wear cloth-
ing that they can easily move in. Christmas colors (red,
green, blue, etc) would be nice but are not mandatory!
It is important for your child/children to attend practices if pos-
sible. Please let me or your child’s Sunday School teacher
know if your child will be unable to participate in the Christ-
mas program.

Finally, Sunday School will not be held on Sunday, De-

cember 25 or Sunday, January 2. Sunday School will re-
sume on Sunday, January 9.
.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact me at 712-566
-2716. Thank you for your help and support with this year’s
Christmas program!
Marsha Grandick
Sunday School Superintendent
marshagrandick@yahoo.com
Sunday, December 19, 2021
10:00 A.M.
 Minden United Church of Christ Board Meeting
November 14th, 2021
Those attending: Tracey, Bonnie, Pam, Rod, Michele, Pastor Brian
Pastors Report: Pastor Brian and Bonnie have discussed the different job duties that
would need to be assigned to the church board and the list was discussed and filled.
Pastor Brian’s last service will be Christmas Eve.
December 19th is the Sunday School Christmas Program
Treasurer’s report: approved and seconded
Bonnie’s report: Bonnie can help with services until the interim arrives. She has con-
tacted UCC corp office and they are helping us. Once the interim arrives, Bonnie can
help if needed. Suzanne Watson can help with music on some Sunday mornings. A
search committee needs to be formed and we have a few volunteers already. Please
let a church board member know if you would like to serve. 2 from the board and 5
from the congregation. A member from the corp UCC will meet with the committee to
start the process of finding a new pastor.
New Business: moved and seconded to pay Dean and Rick Grote for auctioneering
for the church sale $100 each. Property insurance for the church could go up as
much as 25%. The budget meeting will reflect the increase.
Memorial Report: Mary Ann Peterson passed away and a service will be in August
next year. Their family donated $1,000 to our church.
The plumbing/sewer repairs at the parsonage are complete and cost $2800.
The secretary job is still open if anyone from the church would like to apply. 3 days a
week for 3 hours per day. You can send your name to the church board and we can
discuss the other items for the job.
We will have a potluck/good bye party, after the Sunday School Christmas program
for the Wolhuter Family. Please bring a dish or two and join us!!
Minden United Church of Christ Receipts and Expenses for October

Balance in Bank 10/1/2021 $ 16,598.41

Income:
Envelopes & Loose Offerings $ 3,897.33

Electronic Tithes $ 710.00

Fellowship/Coffee Hour
Interest Building Fund
Misc $ 94.00 Parsonage Rent?
Bank Loan/PPP
Chicken Dinner
Auction
Auction Dinner
Total Income $ 4,701.33
Expenses:
OCWM $ -
Church Insurance $ 2,440.00

Salaries $ 3,398.00
Insurance - Pastor $ 1,912.76
Annuity $ 618.43
Social Security - Pastor $ -
SS & Medicare - Secretary $ -
SS & Medicare - Custodian $ -
Workmans Comp $ -
Church Utilities $ 593.68
Postage $ 126.00
Copier $ -
Supplies
Office $ -
Kitchen $ -
Custodian $ -
Worship $ 80.12 1517 Media & Upper Room
Maintenance
Church $ 4,017.00
Grounds $ -
Parsonage $ 500.00 Marr Renovations
Misc* $ 650.00
Brian Reimbursements $ 50.90
Total Expenses $ 14,386.89

Balance in Bank 10/31/2021 $ 6,912.85

Minden United Church of Christ Receipts and Expenses for October

Additional Account Balances as of 11/12/2021

General Fund Savings $10,979.82 dormant

Building Fund $1,866.28

Mission Fund $1,629.42

Memorial Fund $437.20

30 Mo CD $1,876.98

30 Mo CD "2" $1,291.32

12 Mo CD $5,314.41

60 Mo CD $5,890.96

*There is another "reg savings" account with $1,974.92 - which has been labelled as dormant. No fees charged
yet.

Tiered savings 13 $13,687.83Memorial Fund 2?

 Congregational Information Meeting
November 7th, 2021

This meeting was an informational meeting with the congrega-

tion about a small portion, 1/10 acre, that sits behind our 2+-
acres of land across the highway, that Kevin Zimmerman would
like to purchase. Under Robert’s rules, this is a different pro-
posal, so we can vote on this.
Kevin Zimmerman would like to purchase this land for utilities
right of way only. He will need to contact the city or county for
any entrance or driveway access. Kevin offered $1,000 for 1/10
acre, also figuring most land around the area is worth $10,000
acre. He will pay all legal fees and surveying.
We have had some legal counsel on this and both parties
agreed on selling this area 1/10 acre and no easement. We will
still have the 2+- across the road.
There will be another informational meeting December 5th.
Voting on this proposal will be December 12th.
 Job Duties of Church Secretary

Scheduled days at the church Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays-

consecutive 3 hours. The hours can be determined later
Basic computer skills and strong word processing skills
Collect the mail and send any mail
Answer the phone and greet guests
Maintaining mailing list with active/inactive members
Manage the monthly newsletter and send to email subscribers
Record special events, baptisms, funerals and weddings
Keep the monthly calendar of rental of fellowship hall/collect money
Filing
Generate weekly bulletins
Change the song board in the sanctuary
For board meetings, email reminders to board members and have an
updated itinerary and treasurer’s report copied for each board member,
take meeting minutes-2nd Sunday of the month
Confidential trust/conversations between the pastor and the church fam-
ily
In January remind the board of the chicken dinner in March.
In March remind the board of Easter lilies
In May remind the board of the church sale/book the community center
In July remind board of ice cream social
In October remind board of church sale, make posters and include in
monthly newsletter
In November remind the board to order poinsettias for Christmas
Other duties not listed but may be required of church secretary
Join us as we say Goodbye and
Thank You to Brian, Tracy,
Isaac, and Alex with a Potluck
lunch following the Christmas
Program on December 19th.
Please bring a dish to share.
December 2021
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4
Danny Martens
Lynn Driver

5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Diane Pohlman Gene Peterson Connie Morgan Danker Richard Dau
Steve Bintz Sharon Siebels Brummer
James

12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Deanna Thoms Shelli Handy Sandra Price Cynthia
Manhart

19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Mary Zellmer Dalene Carson Rochelle Parks Dick Siebels Christmas Day
(Wedel) Yarnot
Konnor Handy Zacharias Vicki Palmer

26 27 28 29 30 31
Miranda Ring Mary Campbell Brian Schuett
Marissa Ring