The Lancaster County Chapter Board of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans met on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 11400 West Panama Road, Crete, NE. President Jeff Peterson called the regular monthly chapter meeting to order at 6:50 p.m. and opened with prayer. Jeff thanked the members of St John’s Lutheran Church for hosting the meeting and attendees introduced themselves. Board members in attendance included: Jeff Peterson, Shane Larsen, Jan Beck, Kristy Plander, Billie Frost, Judy Janssen, Sally Mertens, Keith Plummer and Margaret Simmons. Advisory Board members present included: Dennis Engelbart and Roger Simmons. Guests present included Financial Associate-Sandi Karl, LaVern Thomas and St. John Lutheran congregational coordinators-Pat Holle, Verna Louch and Joann Renner.
Reports

New Chapter Members: The motion was made by Jan Beck and seconded by Margaret Simmons to admit into membership of the Lancaster County Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans from May 25, 2008 through June 22, 2008 – 57 Benefit members, 6 Associate members and 16 Youth members for a total of 79 members. The motion passed.

Financial Director: The Chapter financial report from the May meeting through June 23rd was distributed to Board members prior to the meeting. Kristy Plander explained the report and how to apply for Care Abounds in Community projects.

Communication Director: Margaret Simmons is planning a newsletter for the end of July which will include and annual Orphan Grain Train Fish Dinner fund-raiser and the first notice of the fall election. She wants to include a feature on Camp Luther and Camp Carol Joy Holling and Habitat for Humanity.

Events Director: Judy Janssen reported on the meeting held by the Fall Event Committee. The theme for the Fall Festival/Election will be ‘Harvest Blessings’ which will be held on Sunday, October 19th at Lincoln Lutheran Middle/High School. A tentative schedule was set for the day that will begin at 12 noon and end by 3 p.m. Youth groups will be asked to help with games for the youth in attendance. We plan to ask the congregational coordinators to help with set up/serving/clean up and recognize all the coordinators in attendance. Jan Beck will be coordinating the registration/election tables. We will be coordinating with Margaret Simmons to put the notice in the July and September newsletters and with Vicki Onken to notify the congregational coordinators through email. The tentative schedule includes lunch served from 12 noon-1:00.; entertainment on stage in old gym from 12:45-1:15.; games for the youth in the Commons Area and at front entrance from 1:15-2:15; and bingo from 1:30-2:30. All activities for the adults will be in the Old Gym with door prizes being drawn throughout the event. Recipients must be present to winj.

The events director also reported that Salt Dogs will have a Faith and Family Night on Sunday, August 10th for a game against the St. Paul Saints beginning at 6:05 p.m. The group rate is the same as 2007 with the lower reserved section being $10 per ticket. She will continue to check on other possible events. The motion was made by Kristy Plander and seconded by Keith Plummer that Judy be authorized to purchase 200 tickets with the Chapter to pay $5.00 per ticket and the member purchasing the ticket paying the balance of the cost of the ticket. The motion passed.

Youth Director: Sally Mertens met with the Fall Festival Committee on Wednesday, June 18th and will be leading the Youth games at the event as well as helping with cleanup. She is researching contacts for the Bounce House, cotton candy machine and other activities. I plan to email and/or speak with Youth Group leaders about Youth volunteering using the ELCA Youth Network and the LCMS website.

Join Hands Day 2008 Summary: The May 3rd event was organized by Sally Mertens and youth from United Lutheran Church. The event was publicized through an email to congregational coordinators and a postcard to Chapter members. There were 20 volunteers (14 Thrivent members) who attended with approximately 80 volunteer hours. The May 18th event was organized by Randy Giebenrath. There were 12 volunteers (5 Thrivent members) who attended with approximately 30 volunteer hours. The expenses for each event included pizza and drinks for the volunteers after project was finished.

Vice President: Shane Larson will be coordinating the election at the Fall Festival/Election Event. There are currently two vacancies on the Chapter Board and all current Board members will be serving on the Nominations Committee.

President: Jeff Peterson represented the Chapter at the recent Thrivent Builds dedication of the house on ‘D’ Street. The President did not have a lot of new information as most of it has been included in other Board members report. The Volunteer Recognition event has been posted to the website. The website has reached the maximum size (50mb). Some information can be taken care of by resizing the photos posted but this is a time issue. As Internet director he would like suggestions for guidelines. The total number of hits on the website since April 2007 is getting close to 1500.

Community Service Team Director: Keith Plummer presented eight Care Abounds in Community projects for the Chapter Board’s action.

Project #08-30242-40: This project request for $800 is from the Lutheran Student Center. This event is titled 5th Annual Woodworking Auction scheduled to be held on September 28, 2008. The funds raised will be used for programming and operation of the Lutheran Student Center. The motion was made by Keith Plummer and seconded by Kristy Plander to approve the project request for up to $800. The motion passed.

Project #08-30242-41: This project request for $800 is from the Christ Lutheran Schools. This event is titled Christ Lutheran School Storage and is scheduled to be held on June 28, 2008. The funds raised will be used to purchase the shed and the volunteer hours will be the provided for the purchase and erection of the shed. The motion was made by Keith Plummer and seconded by Kristy Plander to approve the project request for up to $800. The motion passed.

Project #08-30242-42: This project request for $2500 is for the Ann Marie Vantine. This event is titled ‘Movie Night Benefit for Ann Marie Medical Fund scheduled to be held in Seward on July 11, 2008. The funds raised will be from ticket and concession sales. The motion was made by Keith Plummer and seconded by Kristy Plander to approve the project request for up to $2500. The motion passed.

Project #08-30242-43: This project request for $400 is from the Friedens Neighborhood Fund for children in Everett and St. Mary’s Schools. This event is titled Ice Cream Social and is scheduled to be held on July 25, 2008. The funds raised will be used to purchase the door prizes for ‘carnival games’ which will be school supplies for the children. The motion was made by Keith Plummer and seconded by Kristy Plander to approve the project request for up to $400. The motion passed.

Project #08-30242-44: This project request for $800 is from the Lutheran Student Center for their Lutheran Campus Ministry. This event is titled ‘Summer Fundraising - Salt Dogs Concessions and is scheduled to be held on August 20, 2008. The funds raised will be used for operational needs for this summer and future summer operation of the Lutheran Campus Ministry. The motion was made by Keith Plummer and seconded by Kristy Plander to approve the project request for up to $800. The motion passed.

Project #08-30242-45: This project request for $800 is from Heartland Lutheran High School. This event is titled Wisconsin Style Fish Feed and is scheduled to be held on August 17, 2008 at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Chester, Nebraska. The funds raised will be used for educational activities and to purchase supplies for Heartland Lutheran. The motion was made by Keith Plummer and seconded by Kristy Plander to approve the project request for up to $800. The motion passed.

Project #08-30242-46: This project request for $800 is from a group of individuals to help families in Lancaster County who have a child with cancer. This event is titled ‘Childhood Cancer Campaign’ and is scheduled to be held on July 6, 2008. A percentage of the funds raised will be used to assist Lancaster County families who have a child with cancer with gas cards, food certificates, medical expenses, etc. The motion was made by Keith Plummer and seconded by Kristy Plander to approve the project request for up to $800. The motion passed.

Project #08-30242-47: This project request for $2500 is from a group of individuals to help John Andrews. This event is titled ‘Andrews Roofing Project’ and is scheduled to be completed by August 10, 2008. The funds for this hands on project will be used to purchase materials to put a new roof on the John Andrews residence. (The amount of this request was later reduced to $1600 as per maximum funding policy from Home Office-Appleton for hands on projects. The motion was made by Keith Plummer and seconded by Kristy Plander to approve the project request for up to $2500. The motion passed.

Director of Member Engagement Region 378: Dennis Engelbart gave the following report of upcoming events. There is a Thrivent Builds Worldwide Gulf Coast trip to Biloxi, MS planned for October 12-18,2008. The trip will be led by Anita Sites. The Camp Carol Joy Holling Fall Festival is September 21, 2008. The ‘Kids Against Hunger’ project was conducted at the Nebraska North District LWML convention in June and is at Camp Luther throughout the summer. A single Thrivent Leaders Summit will be held on January 23-24 2009 at the Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln. Gary Dunker is working with Thrivent on this event.

Financial Associate: On behalf of the Financial Associates, Sandi Karl requested a photo of congregational volunteers honored at the Volunteer Recognition Breakfast. A Hall of Fame is being created at the Thrivent Office in Lincoln. The motion was made by Kristy Plander and seconded by Margaret Simmons to supply the Thrivent Office with a large photo and frame of the recognized volunteers during the Volunteer Recognition-2008. The motion passed.

Announcement: The next monthly chapter meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 22, 2008 beginning at 6:30 p.m. The location is Friedens Lutheran Church, 540 D Street, Lincoln, NE.

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

Jan Beck
Chapter Records Director