The Lancaster County Chapter Board of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans met on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at Calvary Lutheran Church, 2788 Franklin Street, Lincoln, NE. President Phil Wittig called the regular monthly chapter meeting to order at 6:45 p.m. following a tour of the facilities of Calvary Lutheran Church. He opened the meeting with prayer.

Board members in attendance included: Phil Wittig, Jan Beck, Kristy Plander, Billie Frost, Judy Janssen, Keith Plummer, Margaret Simmons, Sally Mertens and Tim Wiggins.
Boarad member absent with notice: Jeff Peterson. Advisory Board members present included: Dennis Engelhart, Roger Simmons and Brent Stehlik, Others present included: Financial Associate, Galen Bartels, Vicki Onken (congregational service team director-elect) and Calvary congregational coordinators, Del and Nila Koeneke. President Phil extended the Board’s thanks and appreciation to Calvary congregation for hosting our monthly chapter meeting. Members of the Lancaster County Chapter Board each introduced themselves.
Reports

Records Director: The minutes of the August 28, 2007 and September 25, 2007 monthly chapter meetings were printed and distributed prior to the meeting. The motion was made by Billie Frost and seconded by Kristy Plander to approve the August 28th minutes as printed and distributed. The motion passed. The motion was made by Keith Plummer and seconded by Sally Mertens to approve the September 25th minutes as corrected. The motion was passed. The correction to the September 25th minutes was the location in the Thrivent Builds Specialist report in that “The Waffleman” will be at Grace Lutheran (not Sheridan) on October 30th for the Thrivent Builds fundraiser. Both sets of minutes will be posted to the website.

Correspondence: Kristy Plander, Financial Director, acknowledged several pieces of correspondence she received from past Care Abounds in Community (CAIC) projects. Correspondence was from Lincoln Food Bank for the BackPack Program, from Lutheran Family Services for “The Bridge” project, from Clinic with a Heart for the “Concert with a Cause” project, from the Cassie and David McMahon family. In addition notes of appreciation were received from Elaine and her staff (caterer for the Chapter Fall Festival) and from the Lincoln Area Associates Team for a successful Fall Festival.

New Chapter Members: The motion was made by Jan Beck and seconded by Billie Frost to admit into membership in the Lancaster County Chapter of Thrivent for Lutherans as of October 22, 2007 – 34 Benefit members, 6 Associate members and 7 Youth members for a total of 47 members. The motion passed.

President: Phil Wittig reminded Board members about the Lancaster County Chapter Board Retreat on Sunday, November 4, 2007 beginning at 1:30 p.m. at Camp Carol Joy Holling near Ashland. There will be a carpool from Faith Lutheran Church on 12:50 p.m. Board members are to let Judy Janssen know if they plan to attend and if they plan to participate in the carpool.

The 84th Annual Session of the Nebraska Fraternal Congress will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, November 2, 2007 at Camp Carol Joy Holling. At the September monthly meeting Jan Beck expressed an interest in attending and it was suggested that Jeff Peterson also be asked if he would be interested in attending. The motion was made by Kristy Plander and seconded by Sally Mertens to approve payment of registration for Jan Beck and one other Board member. The motion passed.

Financial Director: Kristy Plander provided the September report to the Chapter Board prior to the meeting and provided some printed copies of the report at the meeting. Kristy reported that there is currently $3300. left in Chapter Operating funds and approximately $20,000 left in CAIC funds prior to the actions that will be taken on the project requests at this meeting. There being no questions the September report was filed for audit.

Congregational Service Team Director: Tim Wiggins provided a written report prior to the meeting. St John’s, Crete has reported a Care in Congregation (CICC) completed. Our Savior’s also has two new coordinators. He will be visiting with Vicki (newly elected to this position) about his activities for the past year.

Events Director: Judy Janssen reported that her activities had all involved the Fall Event. She expressed thanks to the Committee for the Fall Event for all their help and t also to all the Board members for their help on the day of the event. The Fall Event was termed a huge success with approximately 325 people who participated in the activities. Board members at Registration indicated that some Thrivent members had come to vote but did not stay to participate in the event. The activities for the younger people were very popular and the ‘String Beans’ musical group was enjoyed by all in attendance.

Youth Director: Sally Mertens provided a written report at the meeting. Her activities were all related to the Kids Activities at the Fall Event. The youth who helped with these activities this year were from United Lutheran and in the future Sally plans to involve youth from other Lincoln churches.

Communications Director: Margaret Simmons passed out her report at the meeting. The next Chapter newsletter deadline is November 15, 2007. Margaret has been doing alot of publicity for events through the use of the postcard. She continues to work on the “How To’ manual for Congregational Coordinators and will present a draft copy at the Chapter Board Retreat.

Vice President and Internet Director: Jeff Peterson presented a written report to Board members prior to the meeting. His report included the election at the Fall Event with two newly elected members. The photos from the Fall Event will be posted to the website. The website has had over 7200 hits since last spring.

Action Items

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

Project #07-30242-58: This project request for $800 is from the Trinity Lutheran, Walton and is titled “Ultimate Pancake Supper”. The activity will be held on November 18, 2007 at Trinity Lutheran Church, Walton with assistance from Immanuel Lutheran in Eagle. The recipient is the Lutheran Heritage Foundation based in Michigan and will support Heritage’s Mission Project in Russia to translate Bibles, Christian education and starting new churches. The motion was made by Keith Plummer and seconded by Kristy Plander to approve this project request for up to $800. The motion passed.

Project #07-30242-59: This project request for $2500 is from the Callaway Lutheran, Callaway, NE and is titled “Pancake Supper”. The activity will be held on November 4, 2007 at the Community Center, Callaway. The recipient is the Jeff Witthuhn family for their premature twins medical bills. The motion was made by Keith Plummer and seconded by Kristy Plander to approve this project request for up to $2500. The motion passed.

Project #07-30242-60: This project request for $2500 is from the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and is titled “Advent Meal for Adam Stehlik”. The activity will be held on December 18, 2007 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. The motion was made by Keith Plummer and seconded by Kristy Plander to approve this project request for up to $2500 for medical expenses. The motion passed.

Director of Member Engagement Region 378: Dennis Engelbart congratulated the chapter on their hard work. Dennis’s attendance at the Chapter Board Retreat will be limited due to his going on a Thrivent Builds trip to Mississippi. He also related the story about a young boy at Sheridan Lutheran who chose to have a theme birthday party. The theme party was ‘Thrivent Builds’ which was a successful $4,000 fund-raiser. Juli will be working on an article for the Chapter newsletter and also for the Thrivent magazine. The Lutheran Campus Ministry for ELCA is 100 years old and is celebrating with a banquet on October 28, 2007 at Embassy Suites.

Thrivent Builds Financial Report: Brent Stehlik, Thrivent Builds specialist, reported that he had received $5,250 was the total received to date. Congregations in Lancaster County have committed to provide $25,000 in funds to Thrivent Builds during 2007.

Financial Associate Report: Galen Bartels was just confirming the date of the Christmas Party. The Financial Associates (FS) Reception will be held at the Thrivent Offices on Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 5 p.m. Families are invited to attend with the FAs.

The next Chapter meeting will be the Chapter Board Retreat at Camp Carol Joy Holling, 27416 Ranch Road, Ashland, NE on Sunday, November 4, 2007 from 1:30 – 8 p.m.

There being no further business, Phil adjourned the meeting at 8:30 p.m.

Jan Beck, Records Director
Lancaster County Chapter