What Can You Do To Help?
By Rev. Al Loeschman

See the related article by Rev. Jack Cascione, "Lutheran Foundation Loses $40 Million of Your Dollars".

The Synod's Board Of Directors needs to held accountable for this. They do have accountability. President Barry is going to address this issue publically before the church.

Send letters to Mr. Bradford Hewitt, Chief Executive Officer of the Synods Board Of Directors.

COPY Pres. A. L Barry. THIS is the place to vent your concerns. Some on the Board Of Directors will try to sweep it under the carpet.

It is important that laymen write their concerns to:

Mr. Bradford Hewitt
LC-MS International Center
1333 S. Kirkwood Road
St., Louis, MO 63122-7295

President A. L. Barry
LC-MS International Center
1333 S. Kirkwood Road
St., Louis, MO 63122-7295

You may want to check the directory of personel on the LCMS Webpage to get their email addresses.

WRITE:

THE LCMS FOUNDATION BOARD
CHAIR FRED BERNTHAL
1333 S. Kirkwood Rd.
St. L. 63122-7295.

Copy President A. L. Barry.

This also presents the opportunity for district convention overtures calling for the election of the board of the foundation and LCEF by the Synod in Convention. You recall that the 98 convention merely mandated (and this was a radical change!) that one third be elected by the synod on convention!

Do you remember the CRY that rose up before and at the last convention when we wanted to have just 1/3 of the LCMS Foundation board elected by Synod in convention? "It is impossible for the Synod acting in convention to elect competent people qualified to provide proper financial oversight. This is a multi-billion dollar business! It's just too complicated for the typical LCMS hick-from-the-sticks that the convention would elect."

Let's see how that flies this round.

A Sample Resolution:

To Increase LCMS Foundation Accountability to the Church

WHEREAS, the recent news of a loss of $40,000,000 or more by the LCMS Foundation is causing great concern throughout the church, and

WHEREAS, the LCMS Foundation is the mandatory funds repository for the entities controled by the Board for Higher Education such that synodical institutions suffered tremendous financial losses (CTS $200,000, Mequon over $1,000,000) as a result of the misshandling of investments by the LCMS Foundation; and

WHEREAS, Concordia Publishing House also suffered a $1,300,000 loss; and

WHEREAS, the current bylaws of Synod (3.06) only allow for the Synod in Convention to elect a small minority of LCMS Foundation Board Members, thus deminishing accountability of the Foundation to the members of synod, therefore be it

RESOLVED that the _____________ District hereby move that the Synod in convention amend bylaw 3.601b to read "The Board of Trustees of the Foundation shall consist of the following: 7 Trustees elected by the Synod inconvention, including at least 4 clergyman; The Chief Financial Officer of Synod shall serve as a non-voting member; The President of Synod or his representative; 3 members appointed by the trustees." And furthermore be it

RESOLVED that this manner of constituing the Board of Trustees be implemented immediately at the 2001 synod convention.

In the biggest bull market in history, the LCMS Foundation manages to loose 7% of its principal. That's at least 15-17% behind where those funds could be by now.

The equivalent of an entire year of the Synod's work was lost due to mismanagement.

1) What kind of investment manager puts all of his clients' capital into one kind of investment?

2) If this is the case, therefore, is there more to the story than what the Reporter is saying?

This loss was in the fixed income market. Let's just say that it was truly an accomplishment. Sell's incompetence needs to be identified and appropriate action taken. This incompetance would not be tolerated in the business world.

The whole process of how the synod "does business" seems incestuous. We have had the same law firm, the same accounting firm, the same insurance company for Worker Benefits Plan and same auditors for 40 years. At one time we had brothers (who were LCMS pastors, not trained financial operatives, running the LCEF and the Foundation.

Will the Foundation cancel their very expensive annual junket to a warm weather location (this year San Diego; Nov. 18-21) in light of their record mismanagement of Synod's funds? Some who have attended this event in the past estimate its cost to be enormous. (Who can get hold of the actual figures for such an extravaganza?) This year is not the year to be wining and dining on the Foundation's tab.

Why are the LCMS Foundation and LCEF spending all their time and energy dabbling in things outside their area, i.e. "re-educating the pastors of Synod" (actual "Reporter" quote), while seemingly ignoring their real responsibilities? Perhaps if they has stuck to THEIR business, this wouldn't have happened.

It is reported that the Board for Higher Education has "demanded" that our universities "must" use the Lutheran Foundation for its asset managers. Perhaps having each university doing its own managment is not a good idea, but to insist that LF alone do it seems shortsighted and financially unsound. The BFHE has some explaining to do.

Lest you cry in your beer all by yourselves, let the Baptists and WELS join you in a cool one. Ernst and Young, one of the Big Six, is the LCMS's accounting firm, too. What a comfort!

See the related article by Rev. Jack Cascione, "Lutheran Foundation Loses $40 Million of Your Dollars".

September 20, 1999