LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 112

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112

SYNOD REPORTS
Deaconess Ministry

• Mercy Works, semi-annual magazine, explores ministries and
opportunities for diakonia (service to others and care for their
needs), including the deaconess ministry. Distributed electronically.
• In Service to Our Lord, DVD, spotlights the ministry of deaconesses—women who are called to serve the church to provide
diaconal care, including works of mercy, spiritual care, and teaching the faith. Now also available in Spanish.
• Translation of select Mercy Insights booklets into Spanish and
Latvian.
Districts and Congregations
• Veterans of the Cross, DVD, shares the stories of church workers
and their families helped by Veterans of the Cross. Through this
program, LCMS WR-HC and Concordia Plan Services provide
small, periodic stipends for impoverished, aged pastors, teachers, and their families. This assistance is provided so these former
church workers can pay for necessities such as gas, electricity, and
food.
Social Ministry Organizations
• Hands of Mercy, a new Web interface where Recognized Service
Organizations can come to share news, find resources, and apply
for RSO status.
• One-sheet handout describing partnerships in the Dominican
Republic.
Health Ministries
• LCMS Parish Nurse Newsletter provides news, networking, and
resources for LCMS parish nurses; distributed electronically.
• Parish nurse directory—annually updated directory lists congregational health ministries/parish nurses. Now available online.
• Are You Ready? DVD recruits medical professionals for service on
LCMS Mercy Medical Teams.
• One-sheet handouts on the topics of overseas medical supply shipments and home-based care programs in Kenya.
Worship Resources
• Good King Wenceslas (It’s All about Mercy), Christmas program
based on the carol “Good King Wenceslas” with options for day
school or Sunday School settings.
• The Spirit Anointed Christ for Mercy, an eight-part Lenten sermon
and service series, available from LCMS WR-HC. The series is
based on Luke 4:18–19 and examines the church’s corporate life
of mercy.
		
Matthew Harrison,
Executive Director
R6-02

Board of Trustees—Concordia Plans
Board of Directors—Concordia Plan Services
Description and Background
For 45 years Concordia Plan Services (CPS)—formerly Worker
Benefit Plans—has been entrusted with the responsibility of administering the Concordia Plans for LCMS workers and their families.
Today, CPS is the benefits provider of choice for more than 6,000
congregations, schools, universities, seminaries, and other organizations in the United States and in mission fields worldwide. Through

these participating organizations, more than 32,000 active workers,
along with 58,000 dependents, are covered by the various benefits
of the Plans.
In addition to the benefits and programs for active workers, CPS
is currently providing pension benefits to 16,200 retirees and also
makes available continued health coverage for qualifying pre-age-65
and post-age-65 retirees who were enrolled in the Concordia Health
Plan (CHP) upon retirement.
With sophisticated plan designs and partnerships with many
well-respected benefit administrators, CPS keeps pace with market
offerings to ensure its products remain competitive and sufficient to
meet the needs of its valued members and employing organizations.
Key Founding Principle

All aspects of the work of CPS and its ensuing partnerships
are based on one key founding principle established by the LCMS
Constitution in Article III, Objective 10. Through that objective the
LCMS comes together as a whole church body to protect and provide
for church workers by stating the need to “aid in providing for the welfare of pastors, teachers, and other church workers, and their families
in the event of illness, disability, retirement, special need, or death.”
CPS was created, as stated in the Synod’s Constitution, for the purpose of providing comprehensive benefits for workers of the LCMS.
Vision, Mission, Values

CPS walks together with the LCMS by aligning its mission and
vision in support of the mission and vision of the Synod.
Its VISION: healthy workers serving in healthy ministries.
Its MISSION: “walking together” with LCMS ministries and
workers by providing quality benefits and services that support workers and their families throughout their service and retirement.
Its VALUES: a Christ-centered approach to serving others, applying biblical principles, standards, and practices as an organization
and as individuals.
Its guiding principles will be
• Integrity—CPS commits to a relationship based on honesty
and trust;
• Compassion—CPS commits to a spirit of humility and kindness as it serves its members and employers;
• Excellence—CPS commits to striving for excellence in the
products and services that its offers and in the way it conducts
business; and
• Stewardship—CPS commits to planning operations that demonstrate good and appropriate stewardship of the resources
entrusted to its care.
Assignment from the 2007 LCMS Convention
In preparation for the 2007 LCMS convention, the Nebraska
District submitted Overture 5-13 “To Study Health Insurance
Coverage for Seminary Students.” This overture was included in an
omnibus resolution and referred to CPS and the seminaries for consideration. CPS held several meetings with the Concordia Seminary,
St. Louis and the Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne.
Together, participants reviewed the different health plans offered by
the seminaries, discussed the concerns expressed by students and others throughout the Synod regarding the existing student plans, and
worked to develop a better healthcare package.
Focus groups and surveys indicated that the students were uniformly dissatisfied with the health coverage available to them and
were ready for a change. They wanted better service, better value

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