The Lancaster County Chapter Board of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans met on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at St. John Lutheran Church, 11400 W. Panama Road, Crete, NE. President Phil Wittig called the regular monthly chapter meeting to order at 6:32 p.m. Board members in attendance included: Phil Wittig, Jeff Peterson, Jan Beck, Billie Frost, Judy Janssen, Keith Plummer, Margaret Simmons, Tim Wiggins and Sally Mertens. Advisory Board members present included: Linda Stubbendick and Roger Simmons. Members of the Board absent with notice included Kristy Plander. Visitors present included: Dennis Engelbart-Thrivent staff; Rich Mendenhall-Financial Associate and JoAnn Renner, congregational co-coordinator from St. John.

Tim Wiggins shared some thoughts from Acts 2: 1-22 and closed the devotion with prayer. Attendees introduced themselves following the devotion. President Phil extended a thank you to JoAnn Renner and St. John Lutheran Congregation for hosting the May 22nd Board meeting.

Reports

Records Director: The minutes of April 24th monthly chapter meeting were approved as printed and distributed.

New Chapter Members: The motion was made by Jan Beck and seconded by Margaret Simmons to admit into membership in the Lancaster County Chapter of Thrivent for Lutherans as of May 20, 2007 – 41 benefit members, 6 associate members and 12 youth members for a total of 59 new members. The motion passed.

Financial Director: Kristy Plander provided the May financial report to the Chapter Board prior to the meeting. The Financial Report was filed for audit. She was not able to be in attendance at the meeting but passed on this information prior to the meeting that getting receipts for projects was difficult. Receipts from CAIC projects are the responsibility of the Financial Director.

Congregational Service Team Director: Tim Wiggins provided a report to the Chapter Board prior to the meeting. He has added five new lead coordinators in the chapter and continues to work with congregations that have less than three coordinators.

Youth Director: Sally Mertens provided a written report concerning an event that had been done at United Lutheran Church on May 5, 2007 and also information about the BRIDGE Bike Ride, which is a Join Hands Day event on June 15, 2007. Sally has been in contact with Mary Langdon and Craig Stirtz from Lutheran Family Services (LFS) for ways that Lancaster County Chapter could assist LFS with the Bike Ride and other activities. The motion was made by Sally Mertens and seconded by Keith Plummer that the use of $1000 received from Home Office designated for Join Hands Day be authorized for expenses related to Join Hands Day activities. The motion passed.

Events Director: Judy Janssen provided a written report prior to the meeting. She stated at the meeting that Lincoln Lutheran Middle/Senior High School has been confirmed as the location for the Chapter Fall Event on Sunday, October 14, 2007 from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. The ‘String Beans’, a music group for kids has also been confirmed. Judy also mentioned several other dates in her report including “Sand in the City” (beneficiary is the Nebraska Children’s Home) on June 9th and 10th; Lutheran Day at the Ball park (Omaha Royals at Rosenblatt) on June 30th; and Thrivent Builds will be parked at Henry Doorly Zoo at 2 p.m. on June 30th. Discussion followed about a Lutheran Day at the Saltdogs in Lincoln but no action was taken.

Vice-President’s Report: Jeff Peterson reported that there would be some openings for the 2008 Chapter Board elections. At the present time these openings include the positions of President, Congregations Service Team Director and Youth Director. If a current Board member that has agreed to be nominated for the 2008 Chapter Board would prefer to serve in one of the open positions, they should let Jeff know.

As Website Advisor Jeff requested input on what type of information should be posted on the Internet calendar concerning Thrivent events, such as whether names of people assisting at the event should be listed or just a summary of the event. Jeff contacted the Thrivent Headquarters concerning the number of hits the Chapter website was getting and received permission to add a web counter to the site.

Communication Director Report: Margaret Simmons provided a report to the Chapter Board on May 20, 2007 concerning the activities of her office.

President’s Report: Phil Wittig had provided a written report to the Board prior to the meeting. He reported the highlights of his report. Highlights included – clips from the monthly Chapter Leaders’ conference call on May 14th; a reminder of the Chapter Leaders conference call on Monday, June 11th; and Thrivent Financial’s recent news release with information of the 2006 financial business and fraternal activities by Thrivent headquarters. At the meeting Phil also discussed recruiting officers and Thrivent Builds.

Action Items

Community Project Team Director’s Report: Keith Plummer presented five ‘Care Abounds in Community’ (CAIC) activity requests, which had been received since the April Chapter meeting. All CAIC approved requests are being funded 1:1 unless otherwise noted.

Project #07-30242-27: This request is from Holy Savior Lutheran Church for Riders to the Son Ranch, Inc. in the amount of $800. The Chapter Board had questions about this VBS project in term of whether it was approved non-profit, etc. This project request was taken from the table to take action at this meeting. Information was provided that the project recipient organization is non-profit. The motion was made by Keith Plummer and seconded by Jeff Peterson to approve the project for $800. The motion passed.

Project #07-30242-34: This request is from Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in the amount of $2500. The event is a fund-raiser for Lane Wittler at Norris Public School on June 9th and is titled “Lane Wittler Benefit” for medical expenses and home renovation. The motion was made by Keith Plummer and seconded by Sally Mertens that we approve this project for $2500. The motion passed.

Project #07-30242-35: This request is Lutheran Family Service in the amount of $1000 (maximum for organizations is $800). The event is a fundraiser for the BRIDGE ministry on June 17, 2007. The event is titled “The Bridge Bike Ride” and is held on the MoPac Trail. The motion was made by Keith Plummer and seconded by Sally Mertens that we approve this project for $800 but not through a sponsorship as requested. The motion passed.

Project #07-30242-36: This request is from Lutheran Service Corp in the amount of $800. The event is a golf tournament fundraiser was held on May 21, 2007 and is titled Lutheran Service Corp Charity Golf Tournament. This project request was approved via e-mail prior to the May 22nd meeting. The motion was made by Keith Plummer and seconded by Sally Mertens to ratify earlier action taken to approve this project for $800. The motion passed.

Project #07-30242-37: This request is from Our Savior Lutheran in the amount of $800. The event is a fundraiser for the Friendship Home and the Cancer Society and will be held on July 16, 2007. The project is titled the “Festival of Tables”. The motion was made by Keith Plummer and seconded by Billie Frost that we approve this project for $800. The motion passed.

Project #07-30242-38: This request is a benefit for Jayci Yaeger in the amount of $7,500 (maximum for individuals is $2500). The event is scheduled for June 24th but information is incomplete at this submission. The motion was made by Jan Beck and seconded by Sally Mertens that this project be tabled until we get further information. The motion passed.

Advisory Reports

Director of Member Engagement Region 378 report: Dennis Engelbart reported that Thrivent Financial would have a table at the Camp Carol Joy Holling Benefit quilt auction. Thrivent Builds has a worldwide trip to Eagle Butte, South Dakota (Pierre, SD) from July 16th through July 20th. Deadline for registration is June 3rd.

Thrivent Builds: Linda Stubbendick, Chapter Specialist reported that the dedication for Habitat for Humanity House #1 is scheduled for scheduled for Saturday, June 9th at 9 a.m. This home is located at 1709 N. 30th St., Lincoln for Zenobio and Melissa Gomez and their four children. The Wall-raising for the second house located at 4215 West Thatcher (one mile north of Shoemakers) is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 9th. The house at 1511 D Street, Lincoln for Jesus and Martha Esquival has not been scheduled at this time.

Financial Associate Report: Rich Mendenhall arrived during the meeting representing the Financial Associates. Arnette Garris sent requests for funds to promote Thrivent Financial at the following events: Christ Lutheran Film Festival, Tabitha Health Fair and Holy Savior Vacation Bible School.

Next meeting: The monthly chapter meeting in June will be held at Southwood Lutheran Church, 9300 S. 40th Street, Lincoln, NE on June 26, 2007 beginning at 6:30 p.m.

There being no further business, Phil adjourned the meeting at 8:50 p.m.

Jan Beck, Records Director
Lancaster County Chapter