ELCA NEWS SERVICE March 24, 2005 Lutheran Men In Mission Plans Summer Events, Reaching Goals 05-052-FI CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board of Lutheran Men in Mission (LMM), the men's ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), met here March 17-20 to plan for an assembly and gathering this summer, and for achieving its goal of being "financially self-sufficient by the end of 2005." Much of the meeting was spent in training, said Heber Rast, LMM president, Cameron, S.C. Members of the board and the LMM development council took part in sessions designed to help the organization meet a challenge grant. Last year the LMM board said one of the organization's goals was "to strengthen LMM resources so that the organization might be financially self-sufficient by the end of 2005." An anonymous couple said it would give $500,000 to LMM if the men's ministry could raise $1 million. "Without the challenge grant, we couldn't do it," Rast said. "The plan for the challenge grant is to increase our endowment by at least $1.5 million, both in present gifts and in deferred giving. We hope this will build a good solid foundation for us that will help provide some income for us in the future, some fairly steady income," he said. "As with any endowment fund, the principal will never be touched." "We know there's an awful lot of work ahead of us in a short period of time, but we're enthused about the opportunities for Lutheran Men in Mission and what this will mean for this ministry," Rast said. "We have finally reached the point where we hope we're about to realize a long-term dream of Lutheran Men in Mission. That is to become a self-supporting organization," Rast said. "We are the men of the church, and we want to be able to be independent yet with a strong relationship to the ELCA," he said. The board studied a revised LMM constitution that will accomplish that, Rast said. Proposed changes to the constitution will be on the agenda of the LMM Assembly, he said. The board appointed committees, nominated men for different responsibilities and prepared for elections as part of its planning for the assembly. The LMM Assembly will be July 21-22 and the Lutheran Men's Gathering, "Run the Race: Keep the Faith," will be July 22-24 at the Embassy Suites Convention Center, Charleston, S.C. "We're really excited about the gathering. In addition to some tremendous speakers we've lined up, we're going to be doing some interactive things," Rast said. The center's exhibit hall will include rope courses, rock-climbing walls and other activities designed to draw younger men to the gathering, he said. In 2003 LMM established the LMM Young Men's Ministry Council, which organized a "Road Trip" event last fall at YMCA of the Rockies near Estes Park, Colo. The council is also involved in planning the Charleston gathering. Working with Habitat for Humanity, LMM gathering participants will be involved in building projects -- possibly tool sheds and Habitat playhouses -- for the Charleston area, Rast said. "We'd ask everyone to keep our ministry in your prayers, particularly at this time," Rast said. "Our number one goal, the vision that we have in front of us in everything we do, is for every man to have a growing relationship with Jesus Christ." -- -- -- The home page for Lutheran Men in Mission is at http://www.elca.org/lmm/ on the ELCA Web site. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news