ANNUAL REPORT

2020

INDEX
2020 Annual Congregational Meeting of Crosslake Presbyterian Church
14444 Daggett Pine Road, Crosslake, Minnesota 56442

Meeting held on Sunday, January 31, 2021_________________________________________________________________
www.crosslakepres.org|(218) 692-4769

Item

Page

•

Agenda1•

CPC 2020 Year in Review

2•Committee Reports
Administrative

3

Building and Grounds

4

Clerk of Sessions

4

Deacons and Missions

5

Fellowship

6

Finance & Stewardship

7

Endowment Account•

8

Gifts & Memorials

9

Nominating

10

Spiritual Growth11

Worship

11

Vision & Strategy Task Force11

2021 Budget
Page 1Page 21213

AGENDA•

Opening Prayer Pastor Michael Hartwell, Moderator•

Quorum Validation•

Approval of the Agenda•

Written & Oral Reports of Committees
Nominating Committee Written Report(submitted with annual report)
 Tom McCormack, Chairperson

Election to 2021 Nominating Committee (3 members)
 Two members from the congregation, one from Session•

2021 Budget Presentation
 Steven Anderson, Treasurer•

Old Business•

New Business•

Adjourn•

Closing Prayer Pastor Michael Hartwell, Moderator

Page 1CPC 2020 YEAR IN REVIEW
We started out 2020 energized for many fun events planned for the year ahead - a Monster Sale and St.
Patrick’s Day parade amongst them. We enjoyed Pub Theology, Potluck dinners, monthly luncheons,the usual weekly bible study, and Sunday worship for the first few months of 2020. Ash Wednesday wascelebrated with planned Lenten Gatherings to be held weekly.
However, we had sad and trying times too. We lost our beloved Mary Lu, saying goodbye to her at her
memorial service in February. Many of us gathered to hear beautiful tributes, share memories, seefamily photos, and enjoy a wonderful feast afterwards in celebration of her life.
Then we all know the rest of the story, as they say. The pandemic caused us to go on lockdown - all tostay at home, and on March 16 we had to close the church building. All our plans immediately stopped,
including our ability to worship together. These were, and are, indeed trying times but due to the hard
work and determination of our congregation we are weathering the storm!
With the onset of the pandemic changing our church life, we swiveled on our heels and moved forward.
In April, thanks to Steve Anderson and the F&S Committee, CPC applied for, and received a grantthrough the Government’s Payroll Protection Plan, which offered to help small businesses and churches
financially. The grant does not have to be repaid. A Covid Preparedness Plan was drafted for the use of
the church, with regard to our ability to gather and worship. The plan follows state guidelines and is anever-evolving plan due to the ongoing changes and restrictions of the pandemic. Thank you to Diane
McCormack for all her hard work putting it together. Building & Grounds installed HEPA filters and handsanitizers, and the building was prepared for the time when we could worship together again indoors.
Throughout the summer months when we could not meet in person, the Deacon’s continued to work
behind the scenes, caring for the members of our congregation. They also continued their mission work,
helping area food shelves and schools with monetary donations. The Monster Sale went on behind thescenes too, with Amy Bloch and Tom McCormack selling many of the larger items online generating
more income. Thank you to them!
On May 31 we started Outdoor Sunday worship services in the parking lot with Glenda playing the
piano, and members of the choir singing in the sunshine. We worshipped together until the weather
turned cold, and we were able to move indoors with limited capacity. By November we were able to offer
the service online via Zoom, with many thanks to Brad Kohl for his IT ability allowing us to get this up
and running - we will be forever indebted.
We lost two treasured members of our congregations over the summer: Bill Lallman in July andfounding member Norm Nelson in August.

The congregation voted not to renew Pastor Tony’s contract and his last day with us was October 4.
We shared a listening session for the congregation in November following the newly formed Vision &Strategy Task Force with the aim to reflect, revise and revive our congregation moving forward. Thankyou to Patty Norgaard and the group of women on the task force forging this trail.
Thank you to Brad Kohl and Austin Nelson for leading our Sunday services for the last few months withkind hearts and wonderful sermons! The congregation is incredibly grateful and the increased
attendance numbers speak truth to this.
As we continue to weather the storm of Covid, several of our members and friends have caught thevirus and we are blessed to have them recovered. Now members and friends are starting to receive
vaccinations. We pray for the continued health of the congregation and that we can all be together inour entirety within the coming months.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Regan, Office Administrator

Page 2

BUILDING & GROUNDS COMMITTEE
Members:
Jack Becker, chairman; Tom McCormack, co-chairman; Steve Anderson, and Loyal Meech.
We held two meetings in 2020.
The entire church was re-stained in the spring by Gary’s Painting, Brainerd.
•

•
•
•

We had four (4) ion purifiers installed in the heating system for receiving fresh air into
the church for removing viruses from the air. This was required by CDC prior toreopening our church.
Repair of church sign was put on hold until next spring as well as replacing the woodtimbers around the church.
Dept. of Health did their sanitary inspection, (testing our well water). No deficiencies
were observed.
Set the yearly budget for 2021.

Respectfully submitted,
Jack Becker, Chairperson

CLERK OF SESSION REPORT
Session Members: Tom McCormack, Amy Bloch, Bonnie Miller and Karen Butler(George Young resigned due to health reasons.)
Clerk: Arleen Steele
Pastor Tony left our congregation on October 4, 2020.
Session met 12 times during the year and there were 2 congregational meetings.
There were 5 Special Meetings during the year.
Communion was served 13 times at scheduled Services.
Due to the pandemic the Church Building was closed to Services and in May parking lot
Services were held through the summer. In October we started having in-person services in thebuilding and were able to connect to members unable to attend in-person services withstreaming the service on Zoom. This has been very successful and attendance has been from35 – 50 persons. We have to give a big thank you to Brad Kohl for implementing the Zoom
capabilities. Judy Regan has also been a big help in keeping things running smoothly.
Deaths: Mary Lu Dietz, Bill Lallman, & Norm Nelson
Funerals: Mary Lu Dietz and Bill Lallman
The session members for 2021 will be Karen Butler, Bonnie Miller and Amy Bloch.
We will be electing 2 members for Session at our Annual Congregation Meeting.

Respectfully submitted,
Arleen Steele, Clerk of Session
Page 3

DEACONS & MISSIONS COMMITTEE
2020 Members: Shari Ochs retiring member; Patricia Tweed retiring member; Jack Becker,
Becky Bury, Joan Krueger, Jane Milliman
New members in 2021: Judie Larson, Gail Peterson
The Deacons meet every fourth Tuesday or as needs arise. Our mission is to provide
Congregational care and concern to our members. We do this in the following ways: The Deaconof the Month communicates with members who may need rides to appointments, meals during
times of sickness, visiting by phone, writing notes, sending birthday greetings and get well cards
and praying for them at all times. Starting in March and lasting until October, home visits and trips
to appointments were discontinued due to the Covid19 Pandemic. Church Services were held in
our parking lot. Now they are held at church with physical distancing and no gathering after theservices. Many are able to Zoom the service at home. The Deacons communicate with our college
students and give encouragement to each with notes and treats periodically.
We have given three gifts of checks to them this year provided by the Mary Lu Dietz Fund. We
welcome all new families and new babies into our congregation with gifts for the occasion. We
welcome non-members to use our facilities for weddings and baptisms. We assist and visit
members who are transitioning to new homes and assisted living situations as their needs arise.
The Deacons assist at the funerals held in our church. We set up coffee, water and cookies in a
Sunday School room for them to use. We held outdoor funeral services for Bill Lallman this year.
The Deacons usually organize an annual Christmas party at Golden Horizons Nursing Home eachyear, providing music, food and treats. This year we were unable to do this due to the Covid19
Pandemic and instead sent them $400 for expenses to host their own party. The Deacons created
and delivered gift fruit and treat Christmas baskets to our staff and our members who are having
health issues. We were honored to be the recipient of the Mary Lu Dietz Memorial Fund by thefamily, and the committee worked to honor their wishes. We donated to members and othergroups which were dear to Mary Lu. Flowers and food baskets were sent for special birthdays andas get well gifts. A list will be provided of our donations and fund balances.
This year we felt was the time to connect with our members and associates with a Congregational
Christmas letter and card. It was well received and the Deacons and Missions Committee plan tocontinue the tradition. Our new members for 2021 will be Judie Larson and Gail Peterson. Patricia
Tweed will be ending her three year term on the committee, and Shari Ochs will be leaving after
her term.
Respectfully submitted,
Patricia Tweed, Chairperson(Continued over)Page 4

DEACONS & MISSIONS COMMITTEE
Deacons/Missions Fund Balances as of 12/31/2020
Mary Lu Dietz Memorial Fund:
Starting Balance:
Donations paid out:
Balance:$4,475.00$3,138.46$1,336.54

Deacons Fund:
Starting Balance:
Donations to fund:Expenses:Ending Balance:$615.08$200.00$130.08$685.00

Mission Outreach:
Missions donations through Presbytery: $3,250.00
Local Mission donations:$4,580.00
Total:$7,830.00* Missions Fund underspent the budget by $1,000.00 for 2020
Respectfully submitted,
Patricia Tweed, Chairperson

FELLOWSHIP COMMITTEE
Committee members:
Amy Bloch, Chair, Karen Butler, Bonnie Miller, Barb Kohl, Judie Larson, Shari Ochs, andJane Milliman
Fellowship started out the year organizing the monthly potluck dinners and our monthly
men’s and women’s luncheons but as a result of COVID-19 those activities werecancelled. In February the committee organized and assisted in the preparation of themeal following the memorial service for Mary Lu Dietz. The committee did not formallymeet during the rest of the year once the restrictions were enforced.
Pre-packaged individual serving communion supplies have been ordered for when we
have communion again.
Respectfully submitted,
Amy Bloch, Chairperson
Page 5

FINANCE & STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE
Committee Members: Steve Anderson, Treasurer; Brenda Brittan and Jane Milliman, Financial Secretaries;
Dewey Krueger, Patty Norgaard, and Loyal Meech, acting chair. Louis Smith oversees the Endowment Fund.
Gifts and Memorials Sub-committee members include, Marge Angell, Brenda Brittan, Jan Lallman, andDewey Krueger. The chairman for the committee is currently vacant.
2020 has been a very unusual year. COVID19 has kept the committee from meeting regularly and thedeparture of Pastor Tony has put some additional strains on finances. Our contract commitment to Pastor
Tony ends January 31, 2021. In spite of this, expenses were held to $14,359 under the original budget. Thiswas primarily due to the fact that the original budget contained funds to replace one of the four heat pumps
should one fail. With funds from the “Blest To Be A Blessing” account, the exterior of the church building wascolor stained and the four ventilation fans were modified to make the building usable and conform to
COVID19 restrictions. The exterior doors were also painted. The east door had only been primed and neverpainted after it was installed in the original building. There are funds remaining in the account which will
partially fund a new church sign and new edging around the church. These projects are potentially plannedfor completion during 2021.
The 2020 operating budget was set at $186,737. The total yearly income was $147,740 and expenses were
$172,378. This forced the church to use $24.637 from our reserve account. The budget for 2021 is expected
to be approximately $125,230. To date we have 20 pledges totaling $71,088. This shortfall will again tap into
our reserve fund. The committee is investigating the potential for using the $15,000 which the Endowment
Fund earned during 2020 to help pay the bills. A Monster Sale which was scheduled for 2020 was cancelled.
However, Tom McCormack and Amy Bloch are still selling donated items over the internet and were able toprovide $574 in funds during 2020.
During the spring, George Young resigned as committee chairman due to health reasons. Jan Lallman also
resigned as Financial Secretary following the death of her husband. Betsy Simons resigned as chair of theGifts and Memorials sub-committee in October.
Loyal Meech became the acting chairman of the committee in October and Jane Milliman was confirmed as
Financial Secretary in December. The committee extends a warm welcome to Jane as our newest member.
We thank George, Jan and Betsy for their dedicated service to the church and our committee and subcommittee.
Arleen Steele volunteered to do a review of the church financial records for year 2019 but as yet it is notcompleted.

Steve Anderson handled the duties of treasurer and Jan Lallman and Brenda Brittan served as financial
secretaries for 2020. Thanks to these three for their excellent work and for giving many, many hours ofexpertise to the finances of Crosslake Presbyterian.
Louis Smith carefully watches over the Endowment Fund and his report is attached. Betsy Simons ably
chaired the Gifts and Memorials sub-committee for the greater part of 2020. The yearly report for Gifts andMemorials is also attached. Thanks to both of these two individuals for their dedication to their tasks. I also
thank all the committee members listed at the beginning of this report for their service and dedication to
overseeing CPC’s financial well-being. They are very able members and our congregation is blessed to havethem share their time and talent. And thanks to you of our church family for your dedication to this church,
shown by your underwriting of our financial needs so that ministry is possible.

Respectfully submitted,
Loyal Meech, Acting Chairperson

Page 6

FINANCE & STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE

Page 7

GIFTS & MEMORIALS SUB-COMMITTEE
Annual Meeting on Sunday, October 13, 2020 at 10:00 am
Members Attending: Marge Angell, Dewey Krueger, Jan Lallman, Betsy Simons-Chair
Absent: Brenda Brittan•

Opening Prayer was given by Betsy, remembering our member Mary Lu Dietz who passed
away since our last meeting.

•A review of Agenda items from our last meeting, October 27, 2019 to the end of 2019:
1. Gifts and Memorials paid $297.81 for video equipment.
2. Betsy emailed Allen Eliason’s daughter about uncashed memorial checks given to thefamily. There has been no response.
3. Ginny Anderson was informed we approved her request for the Little Free Library Kit.
Gifts and Memorials paid $223.49 and it was installed in the spring.
4. An office desk and chair for Judy Regan was purchased for $778.

•

The year-to-date balance is $14,751.60
January 2020
$14,742.13
Income$4,710.00$19,452.13
Expense$4,700.53$14,751.60
The balance still includes $10,000 from an anonymous donor.
1. Income
Total memorials received for Mary Lu Dietz and Bill Lallman were $4,610. Dick Dietz
donated $100 for a walker and Marge Angell will be responsible for the purchase of a new/used one.
2. Expenses
An office chair was purchased for Pastor Tony for $180.53. Previously, in July 2020, oursubcommittee had agreed by email to transfer the remaining $4,475 (after a $45 gift offlowers to Jan Lallman) given in memory of Mary Lu Dietz to the Deacons to establish the
Mary Lu Dietz Memorial Fund. Steve Anderson transferred the money in July.

•

Mary Lu Dietz Memorial Fund.
Dick Dietz said Mary Lu’s passion was helping people, so it seemed appropriate forthe Deacons to administer the fund. Pat Tweed, Chair of Deacons, agreed. Ways tospend the money were suggested by Dick, Gifts & Memorials and Deacons. Dewey
gave an update on gifts that have been given - or will be - to CPC members and thecommunity.

The Memorial Tree has been updated by Steve Anderson to include Marie Fischer and MaryLu Dietz since our last meeting. We agreed Norm Nelson should be added at the same time
as Bill Lallman. Gifts & Memorials would like to reimburse Steve for his generosity.
(Continued over)•Page 8

GIFTS & MEMORIALS SUB-COMMITTEE(Continued from previous page.)•

Two new ideas from Judie Larson were discussed.
1. Advertising CPC on the electronic sign to the south entrance to Crosslake. Dewey will
research this idea.
2. New kitchen carts to replace the current heavy ones. It was decided these are notneeded at this Covid time of no events.

•

Marge Angell will sign vouchers going forward.

•

Betsy announced she is resigning from Gifts and Memorials and as a member of Crosslake
Presbyterian Church after completion of these Minutes and a November Messenger article
inviting new members. Jan, Dewey and Marge will return. Marge said a new Chair is notneeded.

•After a silent prayer, the meeting was adjourned at 10:55 am.

Respectfully submitted,
Betsy Simons, Chairperson

Page 9NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Committee Members: Tom McCormack, chair; Becky Bury; Joan Krueger; & Patty Norgaard
The Nominating committee met about a half dozen times to find deacons and session members forthe new year.
Nominated Session members are:•
Steven Anderson•
Mary Clement

Nominated Deacons are:•Judie Larson•
Gail Peterson
Respectfully submitted,
Tom McCormack, Chairperson

SPIRITUAL GROWTH & CHRISTIAN ED.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our experiences with Spirituality and Christian Education weredifferent during most of 2020. We began the year with an Epiphany study and celebration early inJanuary during our regular Bible Study time. Bible study continued to meet most Wednesday
mornings until church groups were asked to stop meeting in person, after which Tony led our Bible
study via Zoom until the end of his time with us.
Pastor Tony also began 2020 by leading a mid-week small group on the topic of discerning our
personal call/path to ministry.
As it was not possible to do a Sunday morning adult study group last spring, summer and fall, as
we had the year before, I invited people to take part in an email group called Prayer Reflections.
Thirteen people (some church members and a few old friends and family members) are taking partin that group, which is still going. We began by reflecting on and sharing our most recent personal
experiences with prayer--the words we used to address God; whether we thought, spoke aloud, or
wrote our prayer; whether it was a prayer of thanksgiving, a request, a complaint, or somethingelse entirely; and any response we received from God to our prayer.
We also shared our thoughts on such topics as playing with God, what it means to pray withoutceasing (including Henri Nouwen’s translation of “pray without ceasing” as “come to rest”), andprayer and fasting. Currently we are on the topic of intimacy with God.
I look forward to the time when we can again share our thoughts, study, pray and worship together
in the same space. We are likely to continue to offer opportunities for such activities via computereven when it is no longer necessary, as it has been good to include people who are not membersof our congregation and/or do not live in this area year-round.
Respectfully submitted,
Ginny Anderson, Chairperson

Page 10ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE(This committee was formally known as Personnel Committee)
Committee Members: Tom McCormack, Chair, Becky Bury, Ron Ochs
Due to COVID-19 the Administrative Committee has not been meeting on a regular basis during theyear. The committee has only met when necessary. The office administrator was given a review
which became retroactive to her anniversary date of October 1. The committee is also reviewing anddiscussing raises for other employees.
Respectfully submitted,
Tom McCormack

WORSHIP COMMITTEE
Members:

Ginny Anderson, Mary Clement, Glenda Meech and Arleen Steele, Chair.

Committee members were In March the Covid 19 Pandemic caused Governor Walz to close down
all meetings for health reasons. We started having outdoor services when the weather got warmerin our parking lot. We were limited with using members for solo entertainment and Glenda playing
her beautiful music.
Pastor Tony left on October 4, 2020 and we started in person services in October with social
distancing in the church according to CDC guidelines and using Zoom for members who could notcome to church. These services have helped us keep our members in touch with each other and theattendance has been more than wonderful.
A big THANK YOU to Brad Kohl for his expertise in helping us with Zoom transmissions. Also, a big
thank you to Austin Nelson and Brad Kohl for serving in our pulpit. We are so fortunate to have theirhelp.
We will be using Pulpit Supply ministers and members until we find a permanent Pastor to fill all theneeds of our Church. If you have any suggestions for how you would like the Church to go forward,
please contact anyone on the committee and let them know your feelings. Thank you to JudyRegan, Office Administrator for keeping everything running smoothly.
We have had 35-50 attendees at our services since we have had in-person and Zoom Services.

Respectfully submitted,
Arleen Steele, Chairperson
Page 11

VISION & STRATEGY TASK FORCE REPORTThis past October of 2020, a few committed members of CPC held their first zoom meeting,soon to be know as the Vision and Strategy Group. Our only goal was to talk about the
future of CPC and if our congregation would be able to “hang together”. I volunteered tocoordinate our weekly meetings and be a moderator. And as we talked further, we realized
we needed to address our past before we could move into the future. We understood, wewere a church family who were grieving, challenged in decisions made and generally
discouraged with where we were. We had to rebuild trust that CPC could not only survive,
but also thrive.
So that is why on the top of our agenda, are these words: The Road to Recovery – Reflect– Revise – Revive. Our first task was to hold a Listening Session. It was important to giveour church family a chance to express their opinions and ideas. And it was our first foray
into “zooming”!
We all recognize the dedication and time, members of our church family have given thispast year. The Worship committee led by Arleen Steele remind us that we can do anything
we put our minds to. With technical assistance from Brad Kohl and Judy Regan, we enjoy a
virtual service and an in-house service every Sunday. We have been blessed to hearinspiring messages from Austin Nelson and Brad Kohl. And we have doubled ourattendance since we began our services.
To be sure we have a long way to go yet. But we are getting there, the Vision and Strategy
group has now become officially recognized as a task force and are participating (nonvoting) in the Session meetings. The nominating committee has put forward of excellent
nominees for both Session and Deacons. The Finance and Stewardship committee ispaying close attention to our budget. Our treasure Steve Anderson is writing a Covid 19
grant that will help provide relief, and on a lighter note – watch our pledge-0-meter grow.
Thanks to a generous church family.
And together with the rest of the committee chairs, we will be working on a plan (andstrategy) for our future! To be sure it will take time and hard work, however, I am confident
the CPC has an important place in our community.
God Bless Crosslake Presbyterian Church

Respectfully Submitted,
Patty Norgaard

Page 12

2021 BUDGET (Page 1)

Page 13

2021 BUDGET (Page 2)

Page 14