Title: Foundation of the ELCA, Development Services Leadership Transitioning ELCA NEWS SERVICE
October 2, 2006
Foundation of the ELCA, Development Services Leadership Transitioning 06-147-JB
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board of the trustees of the Foundation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) elected Cynthia J. Halverson as president-elect of the Foundation at a special meeting Sept. 14. In addition the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, appointed Halverson concurrently to the role of executive director-elect for ELCA Development Services.
Halverson will begin a nearly year-long process that will result in her succeeding the Rev. Donald M. Hallberg, who intends to retire from the ELCA churchwide organization in September 2007. Hallberg, 66, is Foundation of the ELCA president and executive director for ELCA Development Services. Both leaders are expected to begin planning for the leadership transition in October.
Halverson, 48, is currently director of the ELCA Fund for Leaders in Mission, a churchwide endowed seminary scholarship program housed in the Foundation of the ELCA.
The Foundation conducts a program of major gifts and deferred giving on behalf of the church. It manages $277 million in various forms of endowments through the Endowment Pooled Trust, $101 million in the Charitable Gift Annuity pool and $84 million in charitable trusts, Hallberg said.
ELCA Development Services oversees and directs efforts to support ELCA churchwide ministries and coordinates financial development work for the churchwide organization.
The ELCA Constitution specifies that the board of trustees elects the Foundation president to a four-year term -- in consultation with and with approval of the presiding bishop -- and the presiding bishop appoints the leader of ELCA Development Services.
Both actions were announced to the churchwide staff in a Sept. 21 e-mail message from the Rev. Charles S. Miller, executive for administration, ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop.
"I believe that succession planning in pivotal roles such as those held by Don is an imperative," Hanson wrote in a memorandum to the Foundation's board of trustees. "Such planning honors the incumbent and looks strategically to the future."
"I have great confidence in Cindy Halverson and her leadership abilities, expertise in resource development, solid staff relationships, and vision for the funding of this church's mission," Hanson wrote. "My recommendation to you that you elect her to the position of president-elect comes with my enthusiasm and joy for the gifts she will bring to our leadership teams and my deep conviction that she is the right person for this critical work."
"Words will not adequately convey all that Don Hallberg brings to his leadership in the ELCA -- a contagious passion for mission, a love for the people of this church, a great ability to invite and challenge us to be generous stewards, a deep respect for the faithful witness of those who have preceded us and a compelling vision for the possibilities of a legacy we might leave," Hanson added. "I look forward to his continued dynamic leadership in the coming years."
Leaders have worked together for several years
For nearly 20 years Hallberg and Halverson have worked together in various capacities.
"I am personally thrilled that the presiding bishop has moved forward with this seamless transition," Hallberg said in an interview with the ELCA News Service. Halverson is a "consummate resource development professional who has a love for the church," he said.
Hallberg said it has been a privilege to serve 10 years in the churchwide organization, and he said the organization is blessed with a strong team in the Foundation and ELCA Development Services.
"It's a wonderful opportunity to transition into a new job like this over a period of time," Halverson told the ELCA News Service. "I feel that I am prepared for this job because of Don Hallberg. I've worked with him for nearly 20 years in various roles. He is an inspired leader, one who helps people recognize and use their gifts to their greatest ability. I just hope that I might be able to carry on that legacy of his as I move forward in this position."
"The work ahead involves building on an already sound resource development program," she said. "There is great opportunity for connecting people with the ministries of the ELCA and facilitating generosity for the sake of the church and all of its ministry expressions."
In 1980 Halverson earned bachelor's degrees in English and journalism from Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind. She is enrolled in a master of business administration program at Dominican University, River Forest, Ill.
Halverson has spent most of her professional career in fundraising for church- related ministries. She was associate director of development and later director of development for Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois, River Forest, from 1982 to 1989. From 1989 to 1997 she was vice president for resource development and director of development for Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI), Des Plaines, Ill. Before joining the Foundation, Halverson was a vice president with the Alford Group, a national nonprofit consulting firm.
Halverson joined the Foundation of the ELCA staff in August 1999 as the first director of the Fund for Leaders in Mission. Its purpose is to generate new scholarship resources for qualified individuals who want to prepare for ministry leadership in the ELCA. In its first seven years the fund raised $28 million in gifts and deferred gift commitments. The scholarship endowment has a balance of $13.4 million and more than $2.2 million has been distributed through scholarships to ELCA seminary students.
Halverson is a former executive secretary for the Association of Lutheran Development Executives and currently serves on the development committee of the Lutheran Deaconess Association.
Halverson is married to the Rev. Brian K. Halverson. They are parents of two daughters, Madeleine and Eliza Grace. The Halversons attend Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest, and reside in Oak Park, Ill.
Hallberg earned a bachelor's degree from Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill., a master of divinity degree from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, and a master of social work degree from the University of Illinois, Chicago.
After he was ordained in 1966, Hallberg was assistant pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, Des Plaines, and served as interim pastor in congregations in Burbank, Ill., and Chicago. He was a consultant in the welfare unit of the Illinois Institute for Social Policy, Springfield.
In 1972 he joined LSSI. He was with LSSI for 25 years, including 16 years as president. He became president of the Foundation of the ELCA in 1997, and in 2004 he was appointed the first executive director for ELCA Development Services.
LSSI honored Hallberg with the "Amicus Certus" (True Friend) award in 2001, and in 2003 he was recipient of the "Seeds of Hope" award from Wheat Ridge Ministries, Itasca, Ill. In 2006 the Association of Lutheran Development Executives gave Hallberg its "Outstanding Executive" award. He was awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Carthage College, Kenosha, Wis.
Augustana College and Carthage College are two of the 28 ELCA colleges and universities; LSTC is one of eight ELCA seminaries.
Hallberg and his wife Susan are members of Trinity Lutheran Church, Des Plaines. They are the parents of two adult children, Erik and Krista.
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Hear comments from Cynthia Halverson on the Web at: http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/060928C.mp3 http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/060928D.mp3
Information about the Foundation of the ELCA is at http://www.ELCA.org/fo/ on the ELCA Web site.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog