News
By the staff of The Lutheran, ELCA News Service and Religion News Service
Closings help camp Lutherdale Bible Camp, Elkhorn, Wis., is adding an adult lodge thanks to legacy gifts from two churches and an anonymous matching gift. Mayfair Lutheran Church, Chicago, closed in June 2012 and gave $50,000 to the camp. On Easter Sunday 2013, Christ Lutheran Church, Melrose Park, Ill., also closed and gave $30,000. The $500,000 anonymous gift will match what the churches gave and future gifts. The number of adult visitors is increasing, accounting for more than half of Lutherdale’s 11,000 guests in 2013 (
www.lutherdale.org).
Artistic change When Chr i s t Our Rede eme r Lutheran Church, Temple Terrace, Fla., closed its school due to decreas- ing enrollment, it contracted with a charter school for learning disabled high school students to use its build- ing. Since all religious symbols must be removed or covered during school hours, a member who is a carpenter built a case and an artist painted it (think triptychs of medieval Chris- tian art). Now when school is in ses- sion there’s a Florida nature scene on the case; when opened, there’s a cross and panels depicting baptism and communion.
“
Unfortunately, Fred’s ideas have not died with him, but live on. Not just among the members
of Westboro Baptist Church, but among the many communities and small minds that refuse to recognize the equality and humanity of our brothers and sisters on this small planet we share.
Nate Phelps, the estranged atheist son of vir- ulently anti-gay Kansas pastor Fred Phelps, who died March 19.
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www.thelutheran.org
Thrivent opens door to Christians, not just Lutherans
O
ne year after 72 percent of members who voted approved letting Thrivent Financial for
Lutherans open its membership to other Christians, the fraternal benefit organization has redesigned its logo and changed its marketing materials to reflect the broader appeal. The vote—the result of 425,000 of
its 2 million members casting ballots over a 60-day period in early 2013— opened the way for Thrivent to sell its products to all Christians for the first time in its 112-year history. Previously, Thrivent’s 2,300 finan-
cial representatives could only sell insurance products—such as life, disability, long-term care and annui- ties—to members of the ELCA, Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, Wiscon- sin Evangelic a l Lutheran Synod and other Lutheran denominational branches. Eligible members may direct where
Thrivent gives a portion of its chari- table funding to other nonprofits, mostly schools and congregations. In 2013, Thrivent and its members
contributed $182.7 million in direct support to charitable organizations, schools, congregations and communi- ties nationwide. This was an increase of 10.5 percent from 2012. Thrivent had $90.4 billion in assets
under management in 2013, up 9.9 percent from 2012, and $8.5 billion in total revenue, a 2.4 percent increase in the same time period. Thrivent is hiring more financial
representatives to handle a greater workload, but it’s too soon to say how many may be needed, said Teresa Rasmussen, senior vice president,
general counsel and secretary for the Minneapolis-based organization. Indeed, Thrivent Financial’s leader,
president and CEO Brad Hewitt, has said in published interviews that the process will go slowly and won’t be widely advertised. Rasmussen said no goal has been
set for reaching a certain level of growth within a particular time frame. Though Thrivent has shortened
its name in marketing materials to “Thrivent Financial” and introduced a new logo and tagline (see back cover), it’s too soon to know how many new applications for membership are showing up, Rasmussen said. The organiza-
tion will maintain “Thrivent Financial for Lutherans” as its official, legal name.
The new membership application
offers one of three boxes for people to check: “I am Christian”; “I am the spouse of a Christian”; or “I am a child under the age of 16 being raised Christian.” Thrivent has no plans to actively
check an application’s veracity. “We don’t think people are going to lie about that,” Rasmussen said. “Our mission is to help our mem-
bers be wise with money and, there- fore, to strengthen our Christian com- munities, so our new tagline, ‘Con- necting faith & finances for good,’ reflects that,” she added. The organization’s old tagline was
“Let’s Thrive.” Sandra Guy
Guy is an ELCA member and reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times.
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