The Lancaster County Chapter Board of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans met on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 2001 South 11th Street, Lincoln, NE. President Jeff Peterson called the regular monthly chapter meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. and opened with prayer. Jeff thanked the members of Immanuel Lutheran Church for hosting the meeting and each attendee introduced himself or herself. Board members in attendance included: Jeff Peterson, Shane Larsen, Jan Beck, Billie Frost, Judy Janssen and Margaret Simmons. Advisory Board members present included: Dennis Engelbart, Anita Stites, Roger Simmons and Phil Wittig. Guests present included the congregation coordinators from Immanuel Lutheran-Dale and Florence Schmidt and LaVern and Arlene Thomas.

Reports

Records Director: The minutes of the August 26th meeting were distributed to the Board members prior to the meeting. The minutes were presented by Jan Beck and approved as printed and distributed. The minutes from the August 26th meeting will be posted to the website.

New Chapter Members: The motion was made by Jan Beck and seconded by Billie Frost to admit into membership of the Lancaster County Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans from August 25, 2008 through September 22, 2008 – 42 Benefit members, 7 Associate members and 13 Youth members for a total of 62 members. The motion passed.

Financial Director: The Chapter financial report from the August meeting through September 20th was distributed to Board members prior to the meeting. Financial Director, Kristy Plander, was not in attendance at the meeting but available for questions via the phone. The report was filed for audit.

Fall Retreat: The Chapter Fall Retreat will be held at Camp Carol Joy Holling near Ashland, NE on Sunday, November 16th and is a family event. Board members wanting to car pool should be at Faith Lutheran Church, 8701 Adams Street, Lincoln around 1 p.m. Board members were asked to let President Jeff know in near future how many will be attending the Retreat. The Records Director will not be in attendance and Roger Simmons volunteered to take the minutes for the planning meeting. The Fall Retreat will include a service project (yet to be decided) which will be a hands-on Care Abounds in Community request for Camp Carol Joy Holling.

Chapter Fall Event (Harvest of Blessings): The Fall Event Committee held their last meeting on Thursday September 18th. Judy Janssen sent an email to the congregational coordinators a few days ago requesting their help with the Fall Event both with the set up on Saturday morning, October 18th and their assistance on the day of the event. Judy has asked that the Board and coordinators set up the tables, etc. beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday, October 18th and be available between 10:30 and 11 a.m. on Sunday, October 19th. The Event is scheduled to conclude between 2:30 and 3 p.m. Shane is continuing to recruit nominees for the election. Jeff Peterson requested that all nominees provide a bio to Shane for a handout and to Margaret for the October newsletter. Judy will be responsible for getting an emcee. Shane Larson will take pictures at the Fall Event.

Thrivent Builds: Phil Wittig that the house being built at Sheridan Lutheran has nearly all the dry wall up and ready to be taped, painted and the finish work completed. The foundation and basement have been poured at 3333 X Street. The anticipated date to move the house to this location is around October 15th.

Congregational Service Team Director: Vicki Onken was not able to attend the meeting, but sent the following report. Trinity Lutheran, Lincoln has a new congregational coordinator who is Samith Kollipara replacing Ron Deinert. An email was sent to the congregational coordinators concerning the Fall Family Festival on September 21st at Camp Carol Joy Holling. An email has also been sent to congregational coordinators about the Chapter Fall Event on October 19th. Vicki also requested coordinators to volunteer to assist at the event.

Youth Director: Sally Mertens was not able to attend the meeting, but provided the following report. She reported that her activities have been around the Fall Event including the games planned for the youth; having the Bounce House available, getting an individual to run the Cotton Candy machine and getting small prizes for the games. She has not had much response from other church youth but will sending another note to the Youth Directors from the other churches. The youth from United Lutheran will be assisting with the activities.

Communication Director: Margaret has sent postcards for recent events including the Fall Family Festival since she did not get a newsletter completed. A postcard about the Fall Event will be sent on the 23rd, followed by the Election Invitation and a second postcard to the Fall Event on October 5th. A newsletter will be compiled and sent after the Fall Event and Election.

Internet Director: Jeff Peterson reported that the website has been restored and is fully operational. The site has had about 100 hits in the past month.

Care Abounds in Community (CAIC) project requests: Keith Plummer was not able to attend the meeting, but had forwarded the CAIC project requests to the Board prior to the meeting. There were ten CAIC requests presented for the Board’s action. If approved the project was funded on 1:1 ratio.

Project #08-30242-63: This project request for $2500 was from a group of individuals at Faith Lutheran Church for Anna Leigh Barrett. This event will be held on October 8, 2008 and is titled ‘Make Believe Sweetheart Dinner’. The project request had been approved via email due to the publicity needed prior to the date of the project. The motion to ratify the email vote was made by Margaret Simmons and seconded by Billie Frost to approve the email vote and fund the project request up to $2500. The motion to ratify the earlier action passed.

Project #08-30242-64: This project request for $800 is from a group of individuals at Holy Savior Lutheran Church. The event will be held on December 11, 2008 and is titled ‘Drawn to the Light (a living Nativity) to benefit Cedars Home. The motion was made by Billie Frost and seconded by Margaret Simmons to approve the project request for up to $800. The motion passed.

Project #08-30242-65: This project request for $2500 is from a group of individuals at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church for Mary Trautwein who recently moved out of state. This event will be held on October 5, 2008 and is titled ‘Mary Trautwein Benefit-Ice Cream Social. The funds raised will be used for medical expenses. The motion was made by Margaret Simmons and seconded to fund the project request up to $2500. Discussion followed concerning the residence of the recipient. The motion was amended by Jan Beck and seconded by Margaret Simmons to fund the request up to $1,000. The amendment passed and the original motion passed with the amendment.

Project #08-30242-66: This project request for $800 is from a group of individuals to raise funds for Noah’s Assistance Dogs. This event will be held on October 11, 2008 and is ‘Dog N Jog’ in the Fallbrook Community Center of Lincoln. Activities include a race, fun run, pet parade and pet safety and obedience demonstrations. The funds raised will be used to train service animals. The motion was made by Billie Frost and seconded by Margaret Simmons to approve the project request up to $800. The motion passed.

Project #08-30242-67: This project request for $800 is from Beta Sigma Psi for the Peoples City Mission. This event will be held at the Lutheran Center on October 23, 2008 and is titled ‘Spaghetti Feed and Coat Drive’. The funds raised will be used to purchase coats and individuals may also donate coats. The motion was made by Margaret Simmons and seconded by Billie Frost to approve the project request up to $800. The motion passed.

Project #08-30242-68: This project request for $2500 is from a group of individuals for the Michelle Loos benefit. This event will be held on October 25, 2008 and is titled ‘Michelle Loos Benefit/Tailgate Party’. The funds raised will be used for Michelle’s medical expenses. The motion was made by Margaret Simmons and seconded by Billie Frost to approve the project request up to $2500. The motion passed.

Project #08-30242-69: This project request for $800 is from a group of individuals at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church for some Seminary students. This event will be held on December 17th and is titled ‘Seminarian Soup Supper’. The motion was made by Margaret Simmons and seconded by Billie Frost to approve the project request for up to $800. The motion passed.

Project #08-30242-70: This project request for $800 is from the Faith Lutheran Schools. This event was held September 20th and is titled ‘Outdoor Classroom Development. The funds from this hands-on service project would be used to purchase trees, mulch, shrubs and pay rental for equipment to remove the sod. The motion was made by Billie Frost and seconded by Margaret Simmons to not fund this project request. The motion to not fund the project passed.

Project #08-30242-71: This project request for $2500 is from a group of individuals at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Lincoln for Douglas Henning. The event will be held on November 9th and is titled ‘Harvest Dinner and Benefit’. The funds raised will be used for Douglas H. Henning’s medical expenses. The motion was made by Billie Frost and seconded by Jan Beck to approve the project request up to $2500. The motion passed.

Project #08-30242-72: This project request for $800 is from a group of individuals at Holy Savior Lutheran Church. The event will be held on December 11, 2008 and is titled ‘Drawn to the Light (a living Nativity) to benefit Friendship Home. No action was taken on this request, as it appears to be the same project request as #08-30242-64 except for the recipient. Jeff Peterson will clarify with Jodi Benedict and place the project request on the October 28th meeting agenda.

Director of Member Engagement Region 378: Dennis Engelbart reported that over 400 attended the Camp Carol Joy Holling Family Day on Sunday, September 21st. Lancaster County membership had a good attendance. He also reported that Anita Stites, acting as a guide, and Arnette Garris are going on a Thrivent Builds trip to El Salvador from November 1st to 9th. They will be at a site where 60 Habitat homes are being constructed in a Community Build.

Announcement: The next monthly chapter meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 28, 2008 beginning at 6:30 p.m. The location is Calvary Lutheran Church, 2764 Franklin Street, Lincoln, NE. President Jeff also announced the 2009 Kick-Off Celebration on January 23rd and 24th at the Cornhusker Marriott Hotel in Lincoln.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m.