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	October 13, 2004 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 73

	Board to continue managing KFUO 'on interim basis'

	By Joe Isenhower Jr.

	The Synod's Board of Directors (BOD) and the Board for
Communication Services (BCS) have agreed that the BOD will continue to
manage Synod-owned St. Louis radio stations KFUO-AM and FM "on an
interim basis."

	Management of the radio stations has been a point of contention
between the two boards since early 2003. Executives for both boards say
that now is resolved.

	The two boards met together Sept. 20. After the joint meeting,
the BCS voted to ask the Board of Directors to continue to manage KFUO
on an interim basis through its KFUO Radio Committee, appointed last
year by the BOD to work with the stations, and that two BCS members be
added to the committee as "advisory representatives." The BOD
subsequently concurred with the BCS request.

	The BCS met Sept. 19-20; the BOD met Sept. 20-21.

	During its meeting, the BCS also asked that by April 1, the KFUO
Radio Committee prepare a report and recommend actions dealing with KFUO
finances, staffing and programming. The board also voted to ask its
former chairman, Dr. Martin Schramm, to withdraw two questions he had
asked regarding KFUO management in a July 30 fax to the Commission on
Constitutional Matters (CCM).

	Schramm sent an e-mail to CCM Acting Chairman Albert Marcis on
Sept. 29 saying that he had decided to withdraw those questions.

	Five of the seven members of the BCS were appointed in May by
the Board of Directors and took office last month. The two other BCS
members are elected by the Synod convention to six-year terms. There was
no election this year.

	"Both boards agree that their contention over the management and
supervision of KFUO was resolved with the passage of Res. 7-02A by the
Synod convention this summer and with the BCS requesting that the BOD
continue its management of KFUO through April 2005," said BCS Executive
Director J. Thomas Lapacka.

	In passing the resolution, the convention amended the church
body's Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws to limit the "management
authority and duties" of the Board of Directors and to clarify the role
of the Commission on Constitutional Matters (CCM). That action also
overturned two resolutions adopted last year by the BOD saying that
eight CCM opinions were "of no effect."

	One of those CCM opinions indicated that the BOD did not have
the authority to reverse a 1986 convention action delegating
responsibility for KFUO to the BCS if that responsibility is not
voluntarily relinquished.

	The BOD in early 2003 voted to assume management of KFUO, saying
that the BCS had "shared serious financial concerns regarding KFUO-AM
and FM that threaten their ability to continue in their present level of
performance."

	"The BOD took that action believing that the BCS had voluntarily
relinquished responsibility in the interest of protecting this valuable
asset of the Synod," said Synod Secretary Raymond Hartwig.

	"It is now clear to the BCS that the solution to the financial
challenges facing KFUO is going to have to be worked out with the BOD,"
said Lapacka. "That's a major factor in its decision to request the BOD
to continue to manage KFUO on an interim basis.

	"Also, the current makeup of the BCS is largely new," Lapacka
said. "It needs time to study the KFUO issue."

	"I do think this is a peaceful resolution of what had been a
point of conflict," Dr. Thomas Kuchta, the Synod's interim chief
administrative officer and vice president-finance/treasurer, said after
the Board of Directors meeting.

	Kuchta noted in the Board meeting that KFUO's cumulative
operating deficits stand at $1.4 million, "with most of that deficit
occurring in the last three years."

	"KFUO is heavily dependent on contributions to fund its
operations," Kuchta said. "While the station management and staff have
done a marvelous job holding costs to a minimum, the station is heavily
dependent on gifts to fund that operation, and the gifts just haven't
been generated."

	He said that KFUO management "is continuing to work with the
LCMS Foundation to generate sufficient income for KFUO to operate in the
black."

	Hartwig, who is the BOD liaison with the KFUO Radio Committee,
said that an independent study of the station's development potential
this year concluded "that funding opportunities exist that, if properly
addressed, can supply sufficient resources to build a sustainable
financial future for this treasure of our church."

	Hartwig said that there was "clear evidence" of that potential
when representatives of Skystone Ryan, the independent consulting
organization that conducted the study for the station, talked with
"randomly selected listeners" earlier this year.

	The study was funded by a grant from the Marvin M. Schwan
Charitable Foundation.

	During its meeting, the BOD voted to send a letter of thanks to
that foundation for its "generous support" for the Synod over the years.
Figures prepared for the recent Board meeting indicate that since 1998,
the Schwan foundation has given grants totaling more than $42 million to
the corporate Synod -- not counting Synod-related entities and groups
such as Recognized Service Organizations, which also have received
grants from the foundation.

	Other business

	Other than its half-day joint meeting with the communications
board, most of the BOD meeting was devoted to organizing for the next
three years.

	The Board elected officers for the triennium -- Dr. Robert T.
Kuhn, Oviedo, Fla., chairman; Rev. James E. Fandrey, Elgin, Ill., vice
chairman; and Christian A. Preus, Plymouth, Minn., member at-large of
the executive committee.

	The board selected five to serve as members at-large for the
Lutheran Church Extension Fund. They are Warren Puck, Manning, Iowa;
James Bode, College Park, Ga.; Ernie Heinecke, Olive Branch, Miss.; John
Edson, Plymouth, Minn.; and Vic Bryant, St. Louis.

	The directors chose five members to form a committee "to look
closely at the issue of ongoing legal counsel for the Synod," Hartwig
said, "to gather information, including the possibility of retaining
in-house counsel," and to report to the next meeting of the Board, in
November. He said that study "was begun three years ago, but has never
been completed."

	Hartwig said the BOD "reviews its legal-counsel arrangement at
the beginning of each triennium."

	Serving on that committee are Hartwig, Kuchta, Preus, Rev.
Victor Belton and David Hawk.

	The Board plans to interview candidates for chief administrative
officer (CAO) Oct. 11-12 in St. Louis. The position has been vacant
since Brad Hewitt left it last October to take a position with Thrivent
Financial for Lutherans.

	****************************************

	If you have questions or comments about this LCMSNews release,
contact Joe Isenhower Jr. at joe.isenhower@lcms.org or (314) 996-1231,
or Paula Schlueter Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org or (314) 996-1230.

	****************************************

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