What an honor it has been to serve as the executive director of Lutheran Outdoor Ministries (LOM). The ministries of the organizations that comprise LOM continue to repeatedly touch people in ways that inspire growing faith in Jesus Christ and proclamation of the Gospel throughout the world. The passion for this ministry of those who provide professional and volunteer leadership in these organizations is evident in their dedicated service. Those who serve on the governing boards are ever mindful of their responsibility for the stewardship and mission of these treasured resources of the church. And everywhere I turn in this organization, I am finding a commitment to combine our skills, resources, and experiences in ways that make outdoor ministry, for the church and the world, a movement that transcends and multiplies our strength and vitality beyond what any of us can do on our own. For me and I know for everyone engaged in the life of LOM, this is gratifying work, indeed!
When I began serving as executive director of LOM in August, 2015, I made the commitment to visit as many of our 129 sites as possible during my first two years. As of December 31, 2016, I have visited 70 of our sites. I am committed to visiting all the rest in the days ahead. This has been a great way for me to “get a pulse” on the state of affairs throughout our network and to enhance the LOM commitment of keeping our leaders connected with each other.
During the past decade, our organizations have been through challenging times. In the past year or so, however, there’s an emerging confidence in the future. For some, this is due to growing program participation; for others, it’s due to getting good feedback from all the time-consuming work of cultivating relationships with congregations, synods, and other institutions of the church; and for others, it’s due to good responses from reaching out to persons and communities that don’t have traditional connections with the Lutheran church.
Many challenges continue. I’ve summarized those that I’ve observed in the document, “Challenges and Opportunities for LOM and its Member Organizations.” (See document below) I invite your feedback.
LOM is all about changing challenges into opportunities by what we can do together. Some of the most significant LOM initiatives during the past year –
It seems like every time I turn around, somebody is making a comment about how excited they are by the progress we are making in our mission of encouraging, educating, equipping, and empowering bold and faithful outdoor ministry leaders. I share in that excitement, knowing that the excitement is being generated by so many for whom we are so grateful – all who provide volunteer service to LOM; our Board and committee members; our contract staff who go way beyond the requirements of job descriptions – Jon Skogen, Randy Youngquist-Thurow, Chad Hershberger, Aurice Worley, and Andrea Lee; our Business Partners and Ministry Partners; and a big thank you to all who have made financial contributions that have grown to the point of instilling confidence that yes, this indeed can be a financially sustainable LOM. Thank you one and all!
When I began serving as executive director of LOM in August, 2015, I made the commitment to visit as many of our 129 sites as possible during my first two years. As of December 31, 2016, I have visited 70 of our sites. I am committed to visiting all the rest in the days ahead. This has been a great way for me to “get a pulse” on the state of affairs throughout our network and to enhance the LOM commitment of keeping our leaders connected with each other.
During the past decade, our organizations have been through challenging times. In the past year or so, however, there’s an emerging confidence in the future. For some, this is due to growing program participation; for others, it’s due to getting good feedback from all the time-consuming work of cultivating relationships with congregations, synods, and other institutions of the church; and for others, it’s due to good responses from reaching out to persons and communities that don’t have traditional connections with the Lutheran church.
Many challenges continue. I’ve summarized those that I’ve observed in the document, “Challenges and Opportunities for LOM and its Member Organizations.” (See document below) I invite your feedback.
LOM is all about changing challenges into opportunities by what we can do together. Some of the most significant LOM initiatives during the past year –
- Development of a new Strategic Plan that will guide us during the next several years
- Report on the compensation survey conducted by LOM
- Development of an LOM-administered interim executive director process including our first training event to be held May 8-12, 2017, at Lutherdale in Wisconsin
- Encouragement of The Effective Camp Research Project – the kind of research that’s absolutely vital for the documentation of the importance of outdoor ministry for the church and the world
- Institution of a more inclusive membership philosophy for LOM
- Revision of the LOM by-laws to accommodate a more representative election process that now includes an elected Nominating Committee and LOM Board members who are members of the Boards of our organizations to be elected by the Boards of our organizations.
- Continued delivery of excellent educational events, especially the Annual Conference, the LTE, and the BTE
- Preferred fee agreements with American Camp Association (ACA) and the prospective donor research organization known as Donor Search
- Collaboration initiatives throughout the ELCA and with ecumenical partners (a comprehensive summary of these initiatives is in my report prepared for the Annual Conference, posted below)
It seems like every time I turn around, somebody is making a comment about how excited they are by the progress we are making in our mission of encouraging, educating, equipping, and empowering bold and faithful outdoor ministry leaders. I share in that excitement, knowing that the excitement is being generated by so many for whom we are so grateful – all who provide volunteer service to LOM; our Board and committee members; our contract staff who go way beyond the requirements of job descriptions – Jon Skogen, Randy Youngquist-Thurow, Chad Hershberger, Aurice Worley, and Andrea Lee; our Business Partners and Ministry Partners; and a big thank you to all who have made financial contributions that have grown to the point of instilling confidence that yes, this indeed can be a financially sustainable LOM. Thank you one and all!
Challenges and Opportunities |
Executive Director Report to LOM Conference |