• Pastor Ivani Ahlberg was invited to the meeting to inform on the background and current work in the newly launched Portugese/Spanish speaking worship group IG3. The group is aimed at all Portuguese/Spanish speaking residents in Stockholm and gathers about 15 people every Sunday for service. Beyond this service attending group, IG3 also gathers around 30 adults for Language Coffee hour and some other activities. The group follows the church year and relates to the Swedish speaking group of Immanuel church. The project is described as an integration and evangelisation project. Regular networking is also taking place with Portuguese and Spanish speaking residents in the Stockholm area. Pastor Ahlberg finished: ”You have taken us in – embrace us too!”
• The main point of the meeting was to make a decision on the budget for the budget year 2019. The proposed budget contains, amongst other things, the following: Proceeds in the form of offerings are expected to increase by 650 000 kr. Gifts from members’ last will and testament are not budgeted for this year – this form of gift appears to have become unlikely to expect in the future. On the costs side, as every year, the cost of staff is the largest post. Beyond that, there are a couple of posts that stand out: Developing and implementing the congregation’s new website, and also the renovation of Waldenströmmssalen. After discussions on the budget proposition and the fact that the upcoming year’s budget is underfunded by 666 000 kr, the board made the decision to adopt the proposition and emphasized the importance of next year’s budget, for 2020, to be balanced.
• On November 10th the congregation’s three councils met together with the board for a day of talks and deliberations, a continuation of the common work that we carry out through dialogue. Emma Darelid has put together the material from that day. She says: – This is not a process, but a resource for us all which we hope will influence the situation that the congregation is in. It came out that the different worship groups share experiences when it comes to trends, challenges and possibilities. The differences between the groups lie mostly in how the groups are organized. Some other similarities and differences between the worship groups were identified, as well as activities and priorities to fulfill the current Ministry action plan. Thoughts on the upcoming action plan that we are soon approaching was also on the agenda and it is of great importance that these thoughts are woven together with the actual work that’s being done on the upcoming plan.
• The board was given its half-time report from the group that is looking into the congregation’s relationship with Löjtnantsgatan/gården, the retirement home for ages 55+, the residential care home and the dorm rooms/student apartments. Three questions are being investigated in the continued work with the relationship between Löjtnantsgatan/gården and Immanuel church: 1. Should Löjtnantsgården be made into a profile residence; a residential care home for the congregation’s members? 2. The congregation’s commission to Probitas, a specification of demands, what should the care look like? 3. The future of the residential association.
The board decided that the overview of the practices at Löjtnantsgatan/gården should continue and that the group will return with a final report.
• From the congregation’s Equmenia association, EIS, chairman Tobias informed on that a board meeting was held on December 10th. At that meeting, the annual meeting was planned and this will be held on March 10th. Beyond that, a start-up meeting was discussed for scout leaders, to be able to start up scout activities during this coming spring. EIS is looking for a brigade chief and is grateful for suggestions.
• The economy report shows positive outcomes on both our missionary activity and the finances – as well as the care company.
The communication and collection council accounted for the two ventures of this spring regarding offerings, children, teenagers, young adults, family and – later during spring, automatic transactions to the congregation to make it easier for the giver and to secure the long-term and regular income of the congregation.
• The staff council reported on the ongoing process of hiring a strategic communicator and graphic designer. More on this will be reported to the congregation at the congregational meeting on January 13th.
• The Senior pastor reported on the retirement of Claes-Göran Ydrefors and how we thanked him for his service, as well as on the Christmas market – which attracted lots of people to the church this year as well as previous years.
A report from Probitas was received which summarized a good year with quite some exciting development work to look forward to in the following year.
The next congregational meeting takes place on January 13th. The annual meeting takes place on April 28th.