LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 45

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
provided in the report of the Chief Financial Officer of the Synod,
below.

National Office Compensation
The Board of Directors is responsible for determining the compensation of the employees of corporate Synod. In 2006, the board
adopted a compensation philosophy that states: “At the International Center of the LCMS, our compensation philosophy is simple: In
striving to be good stewards of the dollars entrusted to us, we shall
pay fair salaries in a fashion which rewards performance in order
to be able to attract, motivate, and retain employees.” Since that
time, all positions are reviewed on an annual basis. Compensation
may change from one year to the next based on position classification and performance. Corporate entities at the International Center
(LCMS, LCMS Foundation, Lutheran Church Extension Fund, and
Concordia Plan Services) use the same salary scale. The board approves the individual salaries of the Synod officers, as well as a
salary pool for the corporate Synod staff each year, as appropriate.

Minutes of the Board of Directors
The minutes of the meetings of the Board of Directors are available on the Synod’s website. The board does hold open meetings,
although parts of each meeting are conducted in executive session.
Some items of business (e.g., legal, personnel) are, for obvious
reasons, conducted with only the members of the board involved.
Thus, the minutes of these executive sessions are confidential.
The members of the Board of Directors express their sincere
thanks to the Synod for the special privilege afforded them to serve
the Lord and The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.
Michael L. Kumm, Chairman

45

suspended. Managing the Accounting Department while working
remotely created a challenging work environment. We are fortunate
to have an experienced accounting group who adapted to a remote
work environment. We successfully distributed financial information on a timely basis, received an unqualified (without reservation)
opinion from our external auditors, and prepared a budget. This was
a huge success supported by a great group effort. Following the
lifting of the COVID-19 government-mandated restrictions and my
almost two years serving as the interim CFO, the CFO Search Committee resumed its efforts and successfully hired Nathan Haak as
CFO. Haak has been here a little over a year and is a great addition.

Managing Operations during the GovernmentMandated COVID-19 Shutdowns
The day-to-day operations at the International Center were not
immune to the government-mandated COVID-19 shutdowns. With
less than one week’s notice, everyone pulled together to enable all
employees to work remotely. The first challenge was to ensure that
all employees had the right hardware. Once situated, the next challenge was to increase communications to ensure all was completed
promptly. This was done with numerous emails and by quickly becoming experts with Teams or Zoom virtual meetings. During the
pandemic, the Operations Team (see below) conducted numerous
surveys to gauge and monitor employees’ challenges, issues, mental
well-being, and eagerness to return to a “normal” in-person work
environment. Once the mandates were lifted, steps were taken to
ensure a safe work environment that included extra cleaning, installing numerous hand-sanitizing dispensers, mask-wearing, etc.
Gradually over time, we returned to a prepandemic work environment, but we are still conscious to maintain a high level of hygiene.

Other Significant Areas

R5.1

Chief Administrative Officer
The preponderance of the business, legal, and administrative responsibilities of the Board of Directors (BOD) are carried out by the
Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). During this past triennium,
the BOD reappointed the CAO to a new three-year appointment
that commenced in October 2020. In addition to the day-to-day
business and management of other administrative responsibilities,
the BOD identified two main areas of strategic importance for the
CAO: (1) act as the interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO) following the pending retirement of the CFO effective January 2020 until
the position is filled and (2) manage the day-to-day operations during the government-mandated COVID-19 shutdown along with the
Chief Mission Officer.

Service as Interim Chief Financial Officer
The CFO’s retirement in January 2020 started the search process to find an individual to fill the position permanently. While I
was not intimately familiar with the duties of the CFO, I relied on
my master of business administration, public accounting experience (having passed the Certified Public Accountant exam), and
over 30 years of business experience to fulfill the duties. A CFO
Search Committee was established, consisting of the BOD Personnel Committee, chairman of the BOD, Unit Executive of Human
Resources, and myself. The search for a permanent CFO got off
to an exceptional start with a good pool of qualified candidates.
Unfortunately, the government-mandated office shutdowns related
to COVID-19 created too many obstacles, causing the search to be

Establishment of Foreign Entities. In order to execute our
global mission strategy, it is important to have the right legal presence in foreign countries. This is accomplished by registering the
LCMS in foreign countries or creating separate legal entities in
foreign countries to carry out our ministries. The CAO coordinates
this work with the Office of International Mission, LCMS general
counsel and local legal counsel as necessary. This strategy focuses
on supporting the work of our international missionaries while protecting the interests of the LCMS.
Operations Team. Bylaw 3.5.2 establishes an Operations Team
which
shall assist the President and the Board of Directors of
the Synod in carrying out their respective responsibilities for
oversight supervision management, and coordination of the
operations of the national office and acceding to the triennial
emphases adopted by the convention of the Synod. The Operations Team shall consist of the Chief Mission Officer, the
Chief Administrative Officer, and the Chief Financial Officer
and shall be convened by the Chief Administrative Officer.
The Operations Team meets monthly along with selected subject matter experts to coordinate and support the ministries of the
Synod. This has resulted in better coordination of the ministry initiatives, more efficient processes, and growing cross-unit support
within the national office.
Administrative Team. Bylaw 3.5.1 establishes an Administrative Team which
2023 Convention Workbook