Your Chapter held a training event for congregational coordinators last February at St. Peter's in Helenville, and there was a great turnout of congregational coordinators from many of our member congregations. This past summer was the third time that we worked a Thrivent Financial for Lutherans booth at the Jefferson County Fair. A few of the Thrivent Financial representatives joined us. On September 29, we held a Fish & Chicken Dinner/Chapter Leader Election event at Turner Hall in Watertown. There were 399 persons in attendance, which nearly broke Turner Hall’s record. Next year, let's break the record! We were very impressed and excited about the turn out, and we appreciated everyone’s patience that evening while waiting to be served. A hearty thanks as well to all of the door prize donors and congratulations to the winners!

As of the end of November, 2006, the Jefferson County WI Chapter has done very well, but only because of your willingness to volunteer. The Care Abounds in Communities® program saw 43 fundraising activities, seven Hands On Service activities, and four Join Hands Day activities. Jefferson County WI Chapter supplemented those activities with $50,955, and the total funds raised by the activities were $161,018. The total volunteer hours to complete these events were 17,253. Those hours were valued at $293,307.

During this same time, the Care in Congregations® program had 65 fundraising activities and two Hands On Service activities. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans supplemented these activities with $40,056 to your congregations, and these activities raised an additional $56,149. The total volunteer hours to complete these events amounted to 6,584. Those hours were valued at $111,928.

The total volunteer hours for all of the various activities were 23,837. The total value of the hours spent completing the activities, supplemental funds provided by Thrivent Financial, and funds raised for 2006 is $713,407. THANK YOU for your time donated and for all of the funds that were raised to help many folks in need.

I also want to give a BIG “thank you” to the following chapter board members who have served the Chapter for the last four years with me: Wayne Pinnow, Kimara Winters, Jerry Birkholz, Daniel Larson and Bert Rupnow. They have been very dedicated and have put in thousands of hours during their respective terms in serving the Jefferson County WI Chapter. Again, THANKS.
I, too, have now completed four one-year terms and must bid farewell. I thank you for the privilege of serving in this capacity. I know that the new chapter board members and remaining board members will do an excellent job!

May GOD Bless All of you for your service,

Sincerely,

Through Thrivent Financial's GivingPlus® program, members can donate financial gifts to two different Lutheran organizations enrolled in the program each year, and Thrivent Financial will contribute $1 for every $2, up to $300 per year for each organization. For example, if you donate gifts of $600 or more to two eligible Lutheran organizations each, Thrivent Financial will contribute an additional $600 ($300 for each organization). In addition, Thrivent Financial will contribute an additional $25 for members who volunteer 25 hours or more at the organization receiving their gift.

All you need to do is complete a GivingPlus Member Gift form (available online or from the Lutheran organization) and submit it with your donation to the Lutheran organization. It's a very simple process.

For complete details and guidelines about this one-of-a-kind member benefit program and for copies of the Member Gift form, go to www.thrivent.com/fraternal/churchcommunity/givingplus.html.

Simply Giving® benefits to you and to ...

Your congregation
Simply Giving® is a reliable, safe way to move your stewardship plan into action. It allows you to share your gifts through planned giving and activates your generosity into ongoing stewardship. Because your gift is given consistently, you won't need to play "catch-up" at year-end or worry about forgotten checkbooks or missed Sunday offerings.

But you're not the only one that benefits. Your congregation benefits from steady, more predictable revenues throughout the year, more efficient bookkeeping and greater confidence in meeting its financial commitments.

Your school
This program is also a convenient way to pay tuition at a Lutheran school. Simply Giving® provides an easy, no-cost way for the school to collect tuition, and allows the school to benefit from consistent cash flow. Your tuition payments are made to the school through a pre-authorized withdrawal from your bank account and deposited on the same day into the school's bank account.

Your favorite Lutheran institution
You can also make convenient contributions to other Lutheran institutions through the Simply Giving® program. Because of your planned giving and ongoing stewardship, the institution you support benefits from steady, more predictable revenues throughout the year. This helps the institution to better meet its financial goals and development objectives.

Enrollment forms can be downloaded from http://www.thrivent.com/fraternal/churchcommunity/simplygiving.html

Vice President: Duane Anderson, 534 votes

Records Director: Becky Pfeifer, 535 votes

Financial Director: Cheryl Hochmuth, 536 votes

Congregational Service Team Director: Illene Turner-Wagie, 536 votes

Communications Director: Lynn Mehringer, 535 votes

Assistant Financial Director: Lisa Kerr, 532 votes

Community Service Team Director: George Neuberger, 536 votes

Youth Director: Troy Milbrath, 531 votes

The position of Events Director remains open at this time. The events director is an optional, elected position with voting rights. The person works with the chapter leadership board and, in some cases, the Lutheran Community Services (LCS) Team to determine appropriate recognition and events sponsored by the chapter leadership board. They are part of a board that provides direction, leadership and administrative support to service teams. Responsibilities are to work with the chapter leadership board and the Lutheran Community Services (LCS) Team to determine what events will take place (e.g. training events, election meeting events, etc.) and how and where they will be carried out. Also, the events director will:
   Develop plans to recognize chapter leadership board members and service team volunteers.
   Plan volunteer gatherings or recognition events such as congregational coordinator training or election meetings.
   Provide guidance and expertise to service teams in planning projects and events.
   Design and set up displays at events in cooperation with the communications director.
   Assume responsibility for visibility-creating activities

If you are interested in serving or know of someone who might be, please contact a Chapter Leader!