The Welcome Team met on Tuesday, August 23. Attending: Barbara Nelson, Doreen Randall, MaryAnne Jordan, Jack Vinyard.
Absent and excused: Bev Duncan.

Items discussed:

1. Barbara Nelson brought several completed gift bags for visitors, which will include:

• a coffee cup with St. Mark's name and address on it
• pencil with St. Mark's name
• a pen with St. Mark's name
• a St. Mark's Church brochure
• a Christ in Our Home devotional
• a handful of Hershey's kisses or Jelly Belly candies. 

We will begin handing these out to first time visitors on Sunday, Sept 11, Rally Day.

2. Doreen Randall brought us up to date on contacting the visitors within 24 hours of their visit. She is doing the follow-up for the 11:00 a.m. service and needs someone else to help with that. She will look for someone who regularly attends the 11:00 a.m. service. Doreen gave us her current phone number: 864-6541.

3 . We discussed needing someone to be the authorization person to sign reimbursement requests for the Welcome & Witness Teams. Pastor Todd will be asked who he would recommend.

4. Pastor Todd advises that $1,000 from the Hurd Memorial donation has been transferred to the Welcome & Witness Fund, so that expenses incurred by the four teams can be reimbursed. Leslie has been advised and will make the transfer via a journal entry.

5. Pastor Todd asked the Welcome Team to consider sending members a note card if they have missed three Sundays in a row.

The Team is willing to do this but we discussed how we would know who was absent. The Team will need information from Pastor, other members or friends who notice that someone has not been at church for two to three Sundays. This will involve all of us in evangelism within our congregation, and help us to look out for each other. Any St. Mark's member can notify the Welcome Team if they notice another member's absence for several Sundays.

Welcome Team members, Barbara, Doreen, Bev or MaryAnne, will send a friendly note card to the absent members, telling them they are missed. No referral names are mentioned and cards are signed by Team Members. If you would like to be part of the card writing ministry please contact a Welcome Team member.

6. The Welcome Team, under the leadership of Barbara Nelson and Diane Metz, has also put together "Busy Bag's" for children seven and under, for use during worship services when children are in church. The bags will contain puzzles and coloring books with religious themes, colored pencils, a note pad and pencil. The bags are for use during the service and are to be returned to the basket holder or usher at the end of the service.

Finally, the Welcome Team wants to thank and congratulate Carl Sciortino, Tania Gilliam and Jack Vinyard for the awesome job they did in getting the St. Mark's booth up and ready for the Tomato Festival, and for the sign that Tania had made. And a special thanks to all the St. Mark's folks who came down to cover the booth and hand out information on St. Mark's and the Pre-School. It was a great adventure and we actually had two families looking for a Lutheran church home and two more wanting info on the Pre-School. It was an exciting experience being out in the community and in the booth, and we look forward to doing it two days next year. (And by the way, Carl & Company, Marilyn Nelson asks that next year, can we have T-shirts that say "St. Mark's." ?)

M.Jordan, Recorder

Addendum 09-15-2011:

* Courtney Sciortino has agreed to help Doreen Randall with the "busy bags" at the 11:00 a.m. services. Thanks Courtney!

* The Welcome & Witness group will meet on Tuesday, Sept 20 at 6:00 p.m. in the Digerud Room. Please let Pastor Todd know if you cannot make that meeting.