President Phil Wittig called a special chapter meeting to order at 2:57 p.m. on the campus of Concordia University, Seward, Nebraska. Phil opened the meeting with prayer. Board members in attendance included: Phil Wittig, Jeff Peterson, Kristy Plander, Billie Frost, Judy Janssen, Keith Plummer, Margaret Simmons, Sally Mertens and Tim Wiggins. Absent with notice included: Jan Beck. Advisory Board members present included: Roger Simmons. Others present included: Arnette Garris, Dennis Engelbart and Julie Ferri.

In the absence of Jan Beck, Records Director, Phil Wittig appointed Kristy Plander to record the minutes of the meeting.

Action Items

Open House: The motion was made by Billie Frost and seconded by Keith Plummer to ratify the e-mail vote to authorize another $102.49 expenses in addition to the $1,500 authorized at the November meeting for the Member Open House held at the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Office. The motion passed.

Thank You Notes: A copy of the thank you note to be sent to outgoing Board members was circulated. A Certificate of Recognition will accompany the note for those Board members who served a full four years as members of the Lancaster County Chapter Board. The motion was made by Kristy Plander and seconded by Jeff Peterson to purchase frames for the certificates. The motion passed.

Guidelines for Funding Requests: Phil provided a draft of the guidelines for calendar year 2007. Discussion followed that included:

1. Should the contact information of the Community Service Team Director and Financial Director be included on the forms available from the website? (It was noted the sharing this information online might attract the attention of Internet spammers. Phil will discuss with Web Advisor, Bill Beck.)

2. What should the ratio for funding requests be – 6:1 or 3:1 as discussed earlier in the day? Phil and Dennis Engelbart will discuss a possible ‘rule of thumb’ for the calculation.

3. The funding request guidelines are guidelines and exceptions can be made if the situation warrants.

4. The funding limit of $2,500 for individuals was discussed. Money was limited at the end of 2006, but we have received an increase of $8,000 for ‘Care Abounds in Communities” for 2007. The motion was made by Billie Frost and seconded by Margaret Simmons to leave the funding for individuals at $2,500 for 2007. The motion passed.

5. Funding guidelines state that requests need to be sent to the Community Project Team Director by the third Tuesday of the month, which could be a problem if the Chapter Board does not meet on the scheduled day of the fourth Tuesday i.e. November and December. It was suggested that this could be handled through communication in the newsletter and an E-mail vote. When necessary to cast an e-mail vote, use “Reply All” so that all votes are counted.

6. Mission trips were not funded by our chapter in 2006, as it was understood that the Chapter would not grant funds to projects outside of the State of Nebraska. Sally Mertens asked about the Youth Gathering and Dennis Engelbart suggested the “Care Abounds in Congregations” be used for that purpose.

Phil will incorporate these changes in a new document for the regular January chapter meeting.

Communications Director: Margaret Simmons will request an electronic copy of the brochure provided at the Chapter Training Event to use in communication with approved projects. The chapter will be able to customize to fit our guidelines such changing the ’10 days’ to ’30 days’. A receipt form needs to be added to the communication packet as the IRS is requiring more documentation from individuals that give to charities, The document with the value of the meal deducted needs to be available at fund-raising events. The chapter will take action to approve the brochure after it has been customized for Lancaster County Chapter.

Meeting Times and Locations: The meetings will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. without the serving of a meal. Currently Lancaster County Chapter meets at Messiah Lutheran Church, 1800 S. 84th St. in Lincoln. Phil had a list of other potential locations for meetings during calendar year 2007. Some of the churches on the list would not available for Chapter meeting so Phil will develop an amended list for our next meeting. On January 23rd we will be meeting at Messiah Lutheran, followed by Friedens Lutheran on February 27th. Congregational coordinators will be invited to attend the meeting when it is held in their church. The motion was made by Margaret Simmons and seconded by Billie Frost that the Chapter ask the coordinators to provide cookies and coffee for our meeting and we would give them a thank you contribution of up to $20. The motion passed.

Audit Committee: Phil has appointed the following individuals to serve on the Audit Committee: ??,??, ??. The motion was made by Kristy Plander and seconded by Billie Frost to approve the members of the Audit Committee and provide them with a $25 gift certificate honorarium. The motion passed.

Community Project Team Director’s Report: Keith Plummer presented one ‘Care Abounds in Community’ activity titled ‘Messiah PTL Carnival’ (07-30242-001). The date of the activity is Friday, January 26th. The motion was made by Keith Plummer and seconded by Kristy Plander to approve the request in the amount of $800. The motion passed.

Congregational Service Team Director’s Report: Tim Wiggins reported that the Congregational Coordinator’s Training would be held on Sunday, February 18th from 3-6 p.m. location to be determined. Phil appointed a sub-committee to plan the event. Sub-committee members include: Tim Wiggins, Margaret Simmons, Judy Janssen, Roger Simmons and Jan Beck.

The special Chapter meeting was recessed until January 23, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. at Messiah Lutheran Church.