Synod Council Synopsis - September 2024
The Southeastern Iowa Synod Council met on Saturday, September 14 at the Synod Center for Ministry in Iowa City.
The agenda for the meeting included Bishop Current sharing a story from St. Peter Lutheran Church in Grimes and their use of one of the synod anti-hunger grants to multiply their efforts to feed the hungry in the Des Moines area through a program of the Salvation Army. This ministry involved 73 people of all ages from the congregation and the grant enabled breakfast to be provided for 1010 people.
The education session for the meeting covered information for selecting a health benefits level for 2025. The synod office, congregations, and other sponsoring agencies will be making their selection in early October. Deacon Jodi Schuman and Amy Van Dyke discussed the process that has been used by the synod for selecting benefits as a model for congregations. This model begins with the ELCA Philosophy of Benefits as the foundation and then an invitation for all employees to look through the benefit offerings and indicate the level that is best for themselves and the family members they cover. This information was shared with the executive committee along with the cost of each of the options. The executive committee brought a recommendation to the council for discussion.
Each year since Portico first offered different levels of benefits, the synod council has elected to cover the synod employees at the Gold+ plan. This year Portico is offering a new plan called Value Copay. The Office of the Bishop covered employees studied and discerned the available plans and decided that Value Copay would be the best option for their needs. Bishop Current conveyed this to the Synod Council Executive Committee and the Synod Council Executive Committee brought that motion to the Synod Council who voted to select the Value Copay benefit level for 2025 with the option for any employee to select the Gold+ plan with the synod compensating the employee to cover the cost of buying up to the higher plan. Portico allows members to buy up to a higher level, but they cannot select a lower level. The ELCA Church Council continues to endorse the Gold+ or Silver+ Level A or B levels and now also endorses the Value Copay level.
Congregations are encouraged to use this same model for discussing the level of benefit that best serves the needs of the covered employees first then consider the budget implications of the whole compensation package and make the best decision for the covered employees and the congregation. Deacon Schuman and Ms. Van Dyke along with our area Portico Customer Service Representative, Jennifer Prinz, are available to answer questions.
In other business, the Synod Council discussed follow-up and procedures related to the removal of Lutheran Church of Hope, adopted a Synod Gift Policy and Synod Endowment Policy. Approval was given to request a disbursement from a gift given to the Johnson County Community Foundation listing the synod as the beneficiary of the dividends. For 2024, this annual disbursement will be used to help fund Camino de Emaus, the Latino ministry in the Quad Cities. The council also approved requesting disbursement annually with direction for the disbursement made at the July meeting.
In the bishop’s report, Bishop Amy Current focused on upcoming events of the synod. These events include the annual New to the Synod day for rostered ministers, SAMs, and interns, the annual Fall Gathering for rostered ministers and ministry professionals, a rural ministry event in Perry on October 5 facilitated by Shrink Smart, our 2024 Synod Assembly speakers, worship resources for lamentation and prayers for peace in the Holy Land for use on October 6, a World Hunger event on October 15 hosted by Bishop Current and ELCA Vice President Imran Siddiqi that highlights the work of Tapestry Farms in the Quad Cities, a boundary education event for rostered ministers and ministry professionals on November 7, and synod gratitude events including the release of the Synod Annual Report on October 1 and area events on Sunday evenings in November.