# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1983_S149 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) ADMINISTRATION AND PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION 149 President(s) and Area Vice Presidents, shall perform such functions as may be directed from time to time by the Board of Directors, the President, or any Executive Vice President. g. The Treasurer, as the chief financial officer, shall be the custodian of all funds, securities. and financial records of the LCEF. He shall make such financial reports as the Board of Directors may require. h. The Secretary shall keep the minutes of all meetings of the Members and of the Board of Directors, shall be custodian of the seal of the LCEF, and shall make such reports as the Board of Directors may require. In this same meeting the members adopted the following nominating process in the preparation ofa slate for the election of directors by the members: Resolved, To contact the President of the Synod and all Districts of the Synod, prior to June 1, in advance of the Annual Meeting, for the purpose of announcing the election of LCEF Directors (CEF Board) and the fact that they have the opportunity to place names in nomination for board membership. The President of the Synod and the individual Districts may determine the board or committee to be responsible for nominating the appropriate individuals. Biographical data and qualifications on the individuals nominated should be provided. The names of nominees together with appropriate data should be submitted by September 1, in advance of the Annual Meeting. The Board of Directors of the LCEF will serve as the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee will review the names proposed by the President of the Synod and Districts, and prepare a slate of nominees for the Membership consisting of two candidates for each director position subject to election. The Nominating Committee may only nominate additional individuals in those situations where bylaw requirements for either regional directors or roster require ments could not be satisfied based on nominations received. Individuals making up the final listing of nominees are to be contacted in advance of the Annual Meeting to insure a willingness to serve if elected. Nominations may also be made from the floor. In the annual meeting in November 1982 the members elected the following to serve on the Board of Directors of Lutheran Church Extension Fund, also serving as the Church Extension Board of the Synod: Mr. Karl Abel—Oklahoma District Mr. Jim Bode—Florida-Georgia District Mr. Fred A. Forster—English District Rev. Donald Glass—Mid-South District Mr. John R. Gossin—Nebraska District Mr. Ernst Heinecke—North Wisconsin District Mr. Ken Lien—Northwest District Rev. Lowell Rusch—Michigan District Dr. Norman D. Sell as the Treasurer of the Synod is the ninth member of the Board of Directors. The officers of Lutheran Church Extension Fund are: Mr. Arthur C. Haake, president Rev. John E. Mever, executive vice-president Dr. Norman D. Sell, treasures (The Treasurer of the Synod is the treasurer of LCEF.) Mr. Clair C. Christensen. vice-president—accounting services Mr. Fred C. Forster, secretary Mr. George Adams, assistant secretary Mr. Fred C. Sticht, assistant treasurer The area vice-presidents already mentioned elsewhere also serve as officers of Lutheran Church Extension Fund. Advance Sites Presently LCEF holds 85 advance sites located in 18 areas. These primary areas are: Atlanta Phoenix Atlantic County, NJ. Portland Chicago Riverside County, Calif. Dallas-Fort Worth San Diego Denver San Francisco Detroit Tampa Houston Toronto, Ont. Los Angeles Tucson Miami Washington, D.C. These sites are purchased after a study of a given com- munity and projections for growth into certain areas. It is expected that District sites will be used not sooner than 5 years or later than 15 years after purchase. In addition the English, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Minnesota North, Florida-Georgia, North Dakota, and Wyoming Districts transferred 26 advance sites into LCEF. The loan support program is a special “in-house” invest- ment program. Districts, colleges and seminaries, and agen- cies of our Synod are encouraged to place their dollars into this loan support program. They may do so on a demand basis, or for one-, three-, or five-year terms. The total investment as of December 1982 stood at $24,975,915. These are the funds which not only gain a rate of interest for the participants but are dollars which flow into the “pool” to assist in maintaining a position of liquidity and from which allocations can be made for the capital needs of our church. Almost every District now has investments in the “Support Dollar Fund.” Truly this is another demonstration of Synod at work—working together in service to our God. Various investment opportunities are offered to all our members. A Flexible Investment Certificate which can be initiated for as little as $10 and to which the investor can add or withdraw at any time has become very popular. The interest rate is 64%. Quarterly statements are furnished each investor detailing the activities in Church Extension and showing the accrued interest. A Special Congregation Flexible Investment Certificate is designed especially for our congregations and its organizations. One hundred dollars is required to open such a certificate and the amount of interest changes with the total amount invested. Financial statements from many congre- gations show dollars in banks for cemetery funds, scholarship funds, repair funds, athletic funds, choir funds, etc. If all of our congregations placed their excess funds or special reserve funds in LCEF, many, many additional loans could be made. Remember that dollars can be added to these funds and withdrawn at any time. Both flexible certificates may requirea 30-day notice for withdrawal. At its first meeting in 1983 the Board of Directors elected Mr. Karl Abel as chairman, the Rev. Lowell Rusch as vice- chairman and Mr. Fred Forster as secretary. The Board also operates with several committees: executive committee, per- sonnel committee, finance committee, advance site committee, and promotion committee. In an effort to comply with security regulators in all the States and/or give full disclosure to all who invest in Church Extension, the Board of Directors resolved to ask all Districts in the U.S. to have an offering circular prepared by April 1983. While many Districts already have such a prospectus or offering circular, those without one are requested to have such a document with financials, policies. and other vital and pertinent information. Canadian Corporation Fora variety of legal reasons it is no longer practical for the Lutheran Church Extension Fund (CEB-Synod) to relate to individual congregations and Districts in Canada. To deal with this whole question a series of meetings have been held during the last biennium with representatives of the three Canadian Districts and with the several U.S. Districts with congregations located in Canada to develop a program to carry out Church Extension work in Canada. Initial steps have been taken to form a separate corporation in Canada to perform Church Extension work in Canada to properly deal with the several legal questions and to also be consistent with the formation of a separate Lutheran Church—Canada. Two financial reports are appended. One is ‘District Church Extension Funds... Combined Balance Sheets.” The other is the most recent audited report of Lutheran Church Extension Fund as prepared by Ernst & Whinney. Lutheran Church Extension Fund continues to ask for your prayers, your suggestions, your support. If investors in Lu- theran Church Extension Fund could double from 50,000 to 100,000 and then grow by 10% each year, soon the fund would be large enough to take care of all the capital needs of our Synod and its congregations. Help the dream become a reality.