GOSPEL IMPACT THROUGH YOU 2016 Annual Ministry Report Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ, As we embark upon Lutheran Hour Ministries’ celebration of 100 years of mission and ministry, we recognize that the strength of this organization has always been the called, equipped, and SENT laypeople at the grassroots level. From the formation of the International Lutheran Laymen’s League in 1917 to today, individuals like you have taken ownership of the mission of Jesus Christ by coming together to find new ways to move forward with Gospel proclamation. In today’s increasingly post Christian world, the need to boldly proclaim the love of Christ is greater than ever. We rejoice that you made the decision in the past year to partner with Lutheran Hour Ministries. Your support allows us to share the Good News with more than 56 million people each week in more than 50 nations around the world through a variety of culturally-relevant outreach programs and resources. Your gifts, prayers, and volunteer involvement allow hurting people to find answers and relief in the Gospel. Please explore this year’s ministry report to see just some of the examples of how God is working through you. I hope you are humbled to see the ways in which God uses our talents and treasures to make His Gospel known. Again, thank you for your faithful support, and may God bless you richly in the coming year! In His Service,
Kurt Buchholz President & CEO Lutheran Hour Ministries The LutheranLayman LaymanJanuary January- -February February2017 2017 11 11 The Lutheran
A Year in Review
HOW YOU HELPED LHM CARRY THE GOSPEL FORWARD IN 2016
Lutheran Hour Ministries witnessed exciting progress in 2016 for each of the four strategic ministry priorities outlined in our comprehensive strategic plan. Following are just some of the ways in which Lutheran Hour Ministries was abundantly blessed by God during the last year.
Grow God’s Kingdom through Expanded Media Outreach Lutheran Hour Ministries’ flagship ministry, The Lutheran Hour®, reaches around 1 million listeners each week through traditional radio, a mobile app, and its web site. The program’s newest segment, Action in Ministry, highlights the church at work and presents a global view of how God is working through Lutheran Hour Ministries by providing ministry stories and sharing available resources.
Rev. Dr. Gregory Seltz, Speaker of The Lutheran Hour, was honored with this year’s Legacy & Leadership Award from Bott Radio Network during the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Convention in Nashville, Tenn. The award recognizes Seltz’s service as a Christian leader as well as the long-standing history of The Lutheran Hour radio program.
The Lutheran Hour continues to expand its footprint by securing more ideal time slots on powerful radio stations such as WRKO/680 AM in Boston. The broadcast also returned to a familiar spot on the radio dial this year when it began airing on WLW/700 AM in Cincinnati. WLW was one of the first stations to air The Lutheran Hour in 1935 and it continued airing the weekly broadcast until December 2014.
LHM’s expanded corporate social media presence regularly reaches tens of thousands of people through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vimeo, and YouTube. An innovative whiteboard video entitled The Empty Tomb was released just before Easter and quickly went viral with more than 82,000 views.
Energize, Equip, and Engage Laity for Outreach Two new videos serve as great resources for churches to use in Bible study classes. We the Church: The Priesthood of All Believers examines the role of LCMS laity both inside and outside of the church and challenges today’s church members to embrace their rich heritage as disciples by sharing the message of hope they have in Christ Jesus. A Man Named Martin—Part Two: The Moment paints a fascinating picture of competing ideologies, historical events, and personality clashes—all of which came to a head with Luther’s famous nailing of the 95 Theses to the church door at Wittenberg. Nine classic episodes of This is the Life were re-released on DVD featuring stars like Jack Nicholson, Leonard Nimoy, and Angie Dickinson long before they hit the “big time”. Each episode has one thing in common: God reigns through every event in our lives, and it is by faith in His Son that our lives find their fullest meaning. 12
The Lutheran Layman January January -- February February 2017 2017
LHM continues to investigate ways to effectively leverage technology for equipping even more people to share the Gospel. Work has begun on developing a Learning Management System (LMS) to allow for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting, and delivery of e-learning training programs. The vibrant history of laity-driven ministry and a bold vision for future sharing of the Gospel were highlighted during a 100th Anniversary kickoff event in St. Louis. Around 900 attendees visited with LHM ministry center representatives from around the world and heard from a slate of speakers who challenged, energized, and equipped them with tools and encouragement to put their faith into action. Presentations are available to view online at lhm.org/100years/videos.asp.
Bring the Gospel to the Unreached Around the World LHM expanded ministry efforts into new areas with large non-Christian populations by starting operations in Turkey and Laos. Proclaiming the Gospel in places like these requires telling people about what we believe, teach, and confess in a non-confrontational way so that the Holy Spirit can do its work on people’s hearts and lives can be transformed. The launch of a Regional Digital Outreach Project in Latin America uses the internet and its tools to reach out and digitally connect to the non-believer and non-Christian population. This online platform addresses topics (such as marriage and family,
relationships, and more) that are of concern to the target audiences and allows them to start an online dialogue with trained volunteers from LHM ministry centers in Latin America. LHM’s refugee relief program in Lebanon continues to grow and over the past year served more than 10,600 people residing in the affected areas of Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. As this conflict lengthens, LHM is becoming known and trusted by local people from a variety of faith backgrounds. Around 250 Lutheran schools participated in the Online Mission Trip to Guatemala during National
Lutheran Schools Week 2016. This virtual mission adventure enriched students’ world-view as they saw firsthand through pre-recorded videos the importance of sharing God’s message of salvation through LHM–Guatemala’s ministry efforts.
Launch a New Digital Mission Field
2,500,000
Many Christian organizations have tried and been unable to find an appropriate approach for delivering online content that reaches unchurched and dechurched individuals. LHM has spent much of 2016 researching and developing optimal web and mobile platforms for reaching these individuals with the Gospel as it moves closer to the launch of THRED in 2017 for using the digital realm to reach individuals who are disconnected from the church. Initial components of THRED will include: • A Facebook page that provides daily and weekly topical posts (image, text, and video) that can be shared by Christians on their social media platforms to encourage conversations with non-churched individuals about aspects of faith, Jesus, and/or Christianity; • A monthly online topical discussion hosted by THRED that looks at topics such as peace, community, faith, politics, etc. with the help of Christian and non-Christian guests. They will also be posted as a playlist on the main THRED YouTube channel. • A website, thred.org, that serves as the home base of content and the location where we drive traffic when people are looking for answers and want deeper conversations. Thred.org will also be the location that many online topical searches are driven to. • A Jesus Dialogue video series located on YouTube and our thred.org web site that offers a more in-depth look at what Jesus said. • A volunteer-based, proactive online outreach program (social listening), along with a volunteer-based e-mail system that responds to any inquiries that happen as a result of THRED content.
1 Million
56 Million+
Print Materials Distributed Annually Around the World
Listeners to The Lutheran Hour Each Week
People Reached with the Gospel Globally Every Week
75,000
1,700+
185,570
Members Today
North American Stations Airing The Lutheran Hour
Web Video Views in the Last Year
49,577
New Bible Correspondence Course Students Enrolled Annually Around the World
49,274
Annual Referrals to Churches
18,815
People Connected with Christian Communities Each Year
213
Local Staff in LHM’s International Ministry Centers
128
LHM Staff throughout the United States
422,480
Annual Responses to Outreach Efforts
4,500+
LCMS/LCC Churches Using LHM Resources
50+
Countries– Ministry Reach
The Lutheran Layman January - February 2017
13
1% - OTHER INCOME
FTS GI
S
Income
M 76% -
70% -
CO
Chairman Phillip Johnson
Secretary Janice Wendorf
Vice Chairman Gene Partlow
Treasurer Paul Pettit
Maplewood, Minnesota
Williamsburg, Virginia
TR
IS
Consolidated Operating
IN
Expenses
TRY
Consolidated Operating
29% - ES TA T
E
LHM Board of Directors
TION
17% - FUND DEVELOPMENT
IBU
7% - ADMINISTRATION
N
Michael “Mick” Onnen
Jack Ficken
Leonard Pranschke
Richard Gast
Andreas Schwabe
Gretchen Jameson
Weldon Schwiebert
Kay Meyer
William Snow
Fairview, Tennessee
Year ended May 31, 2016 with comparative totals for 2015 OPERATING SUPPORT AND REVENUE
INT’L LUTHERAN LAYMEN’S LEAGUE
LHM FOUNDATION
$28,860 586 29,446
$424 (436) (12)
$29,284 150 29,434
Donor support Other income, net Operating income
OPERATING EXPENSES Ministries 24,138 Administration and Fund raising 7,231 Operating Expenses 31,369 Operating Income in Excess of Expenses Non-operating income Non-operating expenses Non-operating Net Income Endowment and other fund distributions
Mission Viejo, California
Brookfield, Wisconsin 2016 CONSOLIDATED TOTALS
2015 CONSOLIDATED TOTALS
$32,032 1,393 33,425
167 167
24,138 7,398 31,536
23,580 7,153 30,733
(1,923)
(179)
(2,102)
2,692
1,320 1,028 292
240 (240)
1,320 1,268 52
1,292 1,248 44
St. Louis, Missouri
-
-
(633)
(1,417)
(2,050)
2,736
17,030 $15,613
47,766 $45,716
45,030 $47,766
Lutheran Hour Ministries is the registered d/b/a name for the International Lutheran Laymen’s League. * A majority of the losses noted under “Change in Net Assets” are due to less than projected performance as a result of financial market conditions during the LHM fiscal year ending May 31, 2016. A copy of the full audit report is available online at lhm.org/report.
14 The TheLutheran LutheranLayman Layman January January- -February February2017 2017 14
Westland, Michigan
Watertown, South Dakota
Brian Mitchell
Curtiss Wittbracht
Jeffrey Craig-Meyer
Lois Engfehr
Larry Pritchett
David Lanius
Trustees Kurt Buchholz
Paul Pettit
Vice Chairman Lee’s Summit, Missouri
President St. Louis, Missouri
Vice President St. Louis, Missouri
LHM President & CEO St. Charles, Missouri
Secretary Riverton, Wyoming
Treasurer Waterloo, Illinois
Assistant Secretary Collinsville, Illinois
Assistant Treasurer St. Louis, Missouri
Int’l LLL Board of Directors Representative Lincoln, Nebraska
Roy Schmidt
Bay City, Michigan
Betty Duda
Lynn Scudieri Naples, Florida
Glenn Gerber Katy, Texas
Net Assets, Beginning of Year 30,736 Net Assets, End of Year $30,103
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Loren Podoll
Chairman Bay City, Michigan
Cocoa Beach, Florida
*Change in Net Assets
St. Louis, Missouri
Officers John “Jack” Kidwell
Chesterfield, Missouri
(998)
Davenport, Nebraska
The Lutheran Hour Ministries Foundation
Phil Daniels
998
Lincoln, Nebraska
Directors Londa Borer-Skov
Sacramento, California
International Lutheran Laymen's League and Subsidiaries Consolidating Statement of Activities (in thousands)
Grafton, Wisconsin
Shawn Sny
Saginaw, Michigan
Phillip Johnson
Int’l LLL Chairman of the Board Maplewood, Minnesota
Calvin Neeman Waterloo, Illinois
Karen Soeken
Ellicott City, Maryland
Pastoral Advisor Rev. Dr. Gregory Seltz St. Louis, Missouri