2007 Annual Report
Grace Lutheran Church Foundation
January 2008

The Grace Lutheran Church Foundation was established at the 1995 Congregational Meeting. The congregation had received a generous gift from Alice and Carl Ronnenkamp, which became the initial funding for the foundation. While cleaning out his office, Pastor Dan found several letters about Alice's wishes for the use of this money written during the time the Foundation was being formed. Reading these letters 15 years later, I believe that we honored Alice's wishes and continue to do so. Paul Weswig, Alice's longtime friend and executor of her estate, was very helpful in informing the council of Alice's desire to have the money be an endowment fund. Alice and Carl left Grace Lutheran Church $270,000 and an additional $270,000 to the Good Samaritan Hospital. The money they left Grace and the hospital was the result of years carefully investing their money and using only part of its earnings for living expenses. Alice and Carl wanted the funds to be an endowment, continuing their philosophy of prudent money management. The Foundation continues to conserve the principal, spending less than it earns, to provide continued support of a growing ministry at Grace.

Last year the Board used the annual report to inform you that we were investigating other options for the management of the trust. I am pleased to announce that the funds were transferred from Union Bank of California to the Endowment Fund "Pool A" of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. The Funds will be managed by the ELCA Endowment Fund, but remain our funds and can be withdrawn, in part or their entirety, at any time should we choose to do so. This was done after careful consideration of several options. The Board believes this was the best choice that will provide prudent management, a reasonable return, and better communications with the trustees. I think Carl and Alice would approve.

How the earnings from the trust are spent is also determined by the Board. I had an interesting conversation with Eldon Erickson after church last month. He was thanking the foundation for its support of the House of Zion Ministry in Woodburn, and asking me if the Foundation had supported the Lutheran World Relief or "The Miracle on Kings and Harrison" projects. As I found myself trying to explain our lack of financial support (but philosophical support for these projects), I realized that I need to explain how projects are supported by the Foundation.

Since the conception of the Foundation, the Board has felt that it was our mandate to make sure the funds where well- managed, by selecting and monitoring a trust management company, by keeping accurate records of funds and donations, and by making sure that donations designated by the donor for a specific purpose are used for that purpose. We also created guidelines to help individuals and groups request funds from the Foundation. We believe the projects that the Foundation funds should have support from the congregation, enhance the ministry of Grace, and would not normally be paid for from the general budget of the church. Originally we thought, like the OSU Thrift Shop, we could take applications once a year, review them all, and select the ones we would fund that year, and dispense funds. We soon discovered this was unworkable. Educational activities, youth programs, and needs for equipment required funding on a much shorter time frame. So we take requests on a first come, first serve basis at our monthly meetings.

The Board has not felt that it was our place to develop projects or requests for funds that fit our agenda. I personally feel that this could give the Board more power than it should have, even though all allocations over $2,000.00 must be approved by the Church Council. We look for projects that have strong support from the congregation. There are only 9 members of the Foundation Board. To develop, request, and fund projects that were sponsored by this small group might lead to a crisis of confidence in the Board. There is no policy against our requesting funds, we simply have not done so. The exception to this was Pastor Dan who was an ex-officio member of the board, who did request funds for a number of projects usually for education or equipment. We rely on members and groups in the congregation to bring requests to us. We can provide members wishing to make requests from the Foundation with some simple guidelines. We do require the requests to be in writing and like to have opportunity to ask questions of the person or group making the request. Please contact any member of the Board if you have questions about funding a project.

Sincerely,
Carolyn Warloe
Board President
Grace Lutheran Church Foundation

Foundation Board 2007: Peggy Custer, Hal Dick, Jeff Beck, John King, Dave Triebes, Kris Saathoff, and Carolyn Warloe. Shelly Lundahl and Pastor Dan were appointed by the Congregation Council as ex-officio members of the Board.

During 2007, the Foundation supported the following projects:

Projects Funded or Pending in 2007
Director of Discipling Ministries 2006/2007 (12-month salary support)         $6,000.00
Luther House centennial celebration $2,483.50
Altar Guild supplies (Memorial Fund) $163.49
Ronnenkamp Hall renovations (matching funds) $4,000.00
Audio-visual system upgrade $15,000.00
4 x 60" round tables $479.99
Weswig memorial plaque (designated memorial funds) $116.55
Hearing impaired telecoil (Memorial Fund) $2,000.00
Organ power supply (Music Instrument Fund) $785.00
Health Minister training for 2 (designated memorial funds) $801.00
Baptism 'donations' for Kids under 16, $50 each $400.00
Pastor Dan's retirement $500.00
House of Zion $500.00
Grace Center (CAST Adult Care Fund) $1,880.71
            Total projects funded or pending $35,469.64
NOTE: the only amount pending is $300 of the baptism donations.

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