John Engholm

http://www.yolkfellowfalls.com/aboutyf.html

John Engholm

http://www.yolkfellowfalls.com/aboutyf.html

John Engholm

http://www.yolkfellowfalls.com/aboutyf.html

John Engholm

http://www.yolkfellowfalls.com/aboutyf.html

Parents, if blunt scissors and crayons are still on your child’s school supply list, now could be the right time to start planning your college funding strategy. Consider this list of “school supplies” to help you and your student prepare for college.

529 Plan

529 plans are a tax-deferred way for anyone to invest in a child’s education. These accounts are controlled by your state or by a manager your state has appointed. Anyone can establish a 529 savings plan naming anyone as a beneficiary. Investments may be used at any approved private or public school. Earnings in this account are tax-deferred until withdrawn, and distributions are exempt from federal and sometimes state taxes. Check with a financial professional in your area to find out how a 529 plan in your state could be helpful to your college funding strategy.

Custodial Account

This type of savings account allows you to build savings for any child, meaning grandparents, relatives, and friends could also set this up. While the child’s name is on the account, the adult custodian is responsible for overseeing it until the child turns the age of majority, usually 18, 21, or 25.

Custodial accounts can be used for any reason, meaning that, if your savings exceeds the amount needed for tuition, your child could use it for living expenses or save it for something else. Custodial accounts usually have tax savings benefits, as well.

Coverdell Account

The savings accrued in a Coverdell account can be used for approved expenses before your child goes to college, on K-12 expenses for students in private or public schools, as well as eligible post-secondary education expenses. A child can receive up to $2,000 annually in a Coverdell account until age 18.

Other types of accounts

* Trusts

Contact an attorney to see if a trust could be right for you. Trusts can be used for education and other purposes. Once the trust belongs to your child (usually at age 18), that money is no longer included in your taxable estate. Contributions to a trust have no minimum or maximum, and anyone can contribute.

* IRAs

While traditionally used for retirement savings, traditional and Roth IRAs allow the withdrawal of funds penalty-free if used for educational purposes. Contributions may be tax deductible and grow tax deferred until withdrawal. Contact a financial representative about using IRAs for college funding, as this could affect your retirement strategy and financial aid eligibility.

* Permanent Life Insurance

If something should happen to you, a permanent life insurance contract can help ensure that goals like education can be met, even if the unthinkable happens. In

addition, permanent life insurance contracts accumulate cash value that can be used during your lifetime. Visit Thrivent.com for more information on types of life insurance to help you pay for college.

With so many options for college funding to choose from, selecting the best set of tools for a child can be difficult. A financial representative can help to decide which options are best to meet a particular family’s needs. Visit Thrivent.com to contact a financial representative, learn more about college funding options, and even estimate needs using a College Savings Calculator.

College funding strategies, like back-to-school shopping, are all about preparation. Hop on the bus to financial preparation by starting or building your college funding strategy today!

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is a not-for-profit, Fortune 500 financial services membership organization helping approximately 2.5 million members achieve financial security and give back to their communities. Thrivent Financial and its affiliates offer a broad range of financial products and services, including life insurance, annuities, mutual funds, disability income insurance, bank products and more.

As a not-for-profit organization, Thrivent Financial creates and supports national outreach programs and activities that help congregations, schools, charitable organizations and individuals in need. For more information, visit Thrivent.com.

The series began with the Hindu faith and Native American spirituality; the next session will explore Islam on Thursday, October 20 at Augustana Health Care Center, 1007 East 14th Street in Minneapolis at 12:30 p.m. A session on Buddhism will be held Friday October 28 and Judaism will be explored in the months ahead. To complement the talks, meals will be served from local restaurants to give participants a literal taste of each ethnic cuisine.

As part of an interfaith learning program, Augustana Care has invited leaders of other faith communities to present. Photo provided by Augustana Care

“Understanding the nuances of diverse cultures allows us to more fully care for the entire person in a way that makes them feel more safe and comfortable.”

Augustana Care’s education series has been funded for a second year by the Department of Human Services. The program seeks to increase understanding of the faith traditions and cultures of residents and caregivers in the local community. “We wanted to focus particularly on religions that do not fall into mainstream Christian-based traditions,” says Chaplain Amy Luukkonen of Augustana Care.

Speakers will discuss how different cultures view the relationships between spirituality, healing and the quality of life. A central goal of the series is to bring new perspectives to caregivers, medical staff, and community members. Educating health care workers about cultural differences will give them better tools for breaking down cultural barriers. “Understanding the nuances of diverse cultures allows us to more fully care for the entire person in a way that makes them feel more safe and comfortable,” says Kelly Klund, director of community relations at Augustana Health Care Center of Minneapolis.

Residents and community members will also be able to gain a greater understanding of some of the diverse cultures in the Elliot Park neighborhood and the Twin Cities as a whole. “Our goal is to build bridges and give participants a new appreciation for the way different cultures combine health care with spiritual issues,” says Klund. Those who attend will be able to enjoy delicious ethnic cuisine while supporting local businesses.

For more information about the spiritual care series, contact Klund at 612/238-5344.

Founded over a century ago, the nonprofit Augustana Care Corporation fosters fullness of life for older adults by providing housing, health care, community-based services and elder advocacy. Augustana Care works to better address the changing needs of our aging community by providing a continuum of care from home modification and day centers to independent and assisted living to skilled nursing and memory care, providing the range of services families need to care for loved ones, and serving more than 2,400 people daily.

Jenna Zark is a free-lance writer living in Minneapolis.

Bethesda was cited for achievement in essential, fundamental, and non-negotiable requirements of service and support for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, specifically in the areas of health, safety, and human security. Beyond compliance with licensing and certification standards, Bethesda was recognized for its commitment to create and deliver person-centered support.

Beyond compliance with licensing and certification standards, Bethesda was recognized for its commitment to create and deliver person-centered support.

“This CQL certification is a Bethesda milestone and reflects our ongoing commitment to the people we support in delivering services at the highest level,” said Dr. John Bauer, Bethesda president and CEO. “This achievement endorses what we do and strengthens Bethesda’s leadership in the field of serving people with disabilities. Furthermore, this endorsement is testament to the work of Bethesda’s 3,000 dedicated employees who help enhance the quality of life for the people we serve.”

From May through July, CQL visited six of ten regions in the national Bethesda network to validate the presence of the Basic Assurances® indicators. CQL review teams met with people receiving services and other stakeholders affiliated with Bethesda’s regions. CQL also completed an onsite assessment of Bethesda’s corporate system and its ability to support a person-centered focus at the regional level. This included review of Bethesda corporate office policies, procedures, protocols, plans, self-assessment, and quality systems.

Bethesda Lutheran Communities is a leading provider of supports and services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Established in 1904, Bethesda offers services for individuals and their families, including a variety of residential settings, supported-living programs, employment assistance, camps, and outreach services.

If God were process-oriented, the Book of Genesis might read something like this:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, so God created a small committee. God carefully balanced the committee vis-à-vis race, gender, ethnic origin, and economic status in order to interface pluralism with the holistic concept of self-determination according to adjudicatory guidelines. Even God was impressed, and so ended the first day.

And God said, “Let the committee draw up a mission statement.” And, behold, the committee decided to prioritize and strategize and God called that process empowerment. And God thought it sounded pretty good. And evening and morning were the second day.

And God said, “Let the committee determine goals and objectives and engage in long-term planning.” Unfortunately, a debate about the semantic differences between goals and objectives pre-empted almost all of the third day. Although the question was never satisfactorily resolved, God thought the process was constructive. And evening and morning were the third day.

And God said, “Let there be a retreat in which the committee can envision functional organization and engage in planning by objectives.” The committee considered adjustment of priorities and consequential alternatives to program directions, and God saw that this was good. And God thought that it was even worth all of the coffee and donuts that had to be supplied. And so ended the fourth day.

And God said, “Let the committee be implemented with long-range planning and strategy.” The committee considered guidelines and linkages and structural sensitivities, as well as alternatives and implemental models. And God saw that this was very democratic. And so would have ended the fifth day except for the unintentional renewal of the debate about the differences between goals and objectives.

On the sixth day, the committee agreed on criteria for adjudicatory assessment and evaluation. This wasn’t the agenda that God had planned. God wasn’t able to attend, however, because the afternoon was busy, filled with creating day and night and heaven and earth and seas and plants and stars and trees and seasons and years and sun and moon and birds and fish and animals and human beings.

On the seventh day, God rested, and the committee submitted its recommendations. It turned out that the recommended forms for things were nearly identical to the way that God had created them; so the committee passed a resolution commending God for implementation according to the guidelines. There was, however, some opinion expressed that people should have been created in the committee’s image. And God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the committee.

The moral of the story

So, what can be learned about committees from this parable?

First, to get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three people, two of whom are absent whenever the committee meets.

Second, meetings are indispensable when you don’t want to do anything.

Okay, readers, now it is up to you. What other humorous learnings can you add about committee activities or the process work within church organizations? But, let’s still be nice!

“The ELCA and Missouri Synod have many areas of long-standing cooperation in external matters, such as providing assistance to people in need, that don’t compromise what we believe,” explained the Rev. Herbert Mueller, LCMS first vice-president. “Resolution 3–03 directed the Praesidium to provide the Synod an assessment of the situation. … While we do have voices that say ‘cut off all relationship [with the ELCA],’ neither President Harrison nor I are intending to do so at this time,” Mueller continued.

Rev. Herbert Mueller Jr.

The primary impact of this resolution will be on social service agencies, called Recognized Service Organizations (RSO) in LCMS. “We have a policy whereby RSOs are evaluated every five years to see how things are going. In response to the resolution, we have developed a series of questions to guide this evaluation,” Mueller explained.

The questions are designed to determine whether the purpose of joint work is consonant with the work of the Synod and whether the policies [of the group] are consistant with its doctrines. The questions are not intended to be a “hunting expedition,” Mueller explained. “We are simply asking whether social service agencies are on the same or a divergent path.”

RSOs are independent agencies that apply for RSO status to demonstrate synodical support of doctrines and policies.

Lutheran agencies feeling way into the future

Large Lutheran agencies that include connection to both ELCA and LCMS also will be examined. Lutheran World Relief, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and, to an extent, Lutheran Disaster Response are part of the evaluative process.

“Both the ELCA and LCMS are committed to supporting ministries of care through our church bodies and institutions that are partners,” said Donald McCoid, executive for ecumenical and inter-religious relations of the ELCA. “Anytime there is uncertainly, it increases stress levels,” acknowledged Mueller. “But we have good relationships” with these groups.

Dr. Donald McCoid

The training of military chaplains has been affected by the evaluations. “We aren’t doing joint training of chaplains anymore. But individuals proceed with pastoral care on a case-by-case basis,” said Mueller. Both the position of the ELCA and the changes within the military regarding “don’t ask, don’t tell” have affected this policy, he added.

The ongoing relationship between ELCA and LCMS takes place at meetings of the Committee on Lutheran Cooperation. According to McCoid, the ministry partnerships will be part of the discussion at the February 2012 meetings.