The Executive Committee and office staff of North Carolina Lutheran Men in Mission want to thank you very much for your support of and participation in our programs and activities over the years and especially this year just ending.

 With the economy tanking as well as the adverse reaction to the church-wide decisions, your continued support in chartering your individual  groups, contributions to the Loan & Gift Fund, recognizing deserving persons with Honorary Life and Memorial memberships, participating in the Extra Milers program, contributing to the Walter Yount Retreat Lodge renovation pledge at Camp Agape, attending our annual gathering (see the enclosed information and registration form for our 88^th annual gathering), is very much appreciated. 

 This has allowed us to remain solvent and viable and able to barely meet the ever increasing expenses of carrying out our ministry to you and for you.  We have achieved this through decreased mailings (saving on purchases of paper, envelopes, postage, etc.) which you may have noticed, not budgeting for or incurring other expenses, maintaining a bare minimum inventory of Master Builder Bibles (which are a mainstay of our biggest ministry to men), keeping a very small inventory of the “Military devotional Strength for Service”, cutting back on travel by myself, and not funding the reserve that is used to assist our delegates to attend the LMM triennial gathering, along with other incidentals.

 HOWEVER, this austerity program has NOT enabled us to accumulate any savings to be used to expand current programs, start new programs, pay for unexpected expenses, pay off the Yount Retreat Lodge pledge (on which we still owe

$ 11,475.00), etc.  In fact, if a particular congregation had not included us in their budget for $2,000.00 this year for which we are so very grateful and which we encourage them to do again this coming year, and if we had not become the recipient of an unexpected donation from a trust fund of more than $2,500.00, we would have been in extremely dire straits.        

The chartering amount of .15 cents per ccc member was set a number of years ago when NCLMM was not engaged in as many different activities and ministries as we are now, and the amount of funds from the HMF were adequate to meet the needs of this organization.  However, this is no longer the case.

Therefore the NCLMM Executive Council has determined that in order to adequately fund our current operations and to possibly grow and to expand into other areas of ministry, as well as to establish a reserve from which larger projects can be funded without the need to continually ask for contributions to finish up a project (ie: WE have been working on the $75,000.00 pledge for the Walter Yount Retreat Lodge for over 4 years now, as an example) that a change in support from local congregations and chartered units is necessary.

Therefore, starting with the new year – 2011, we are asking that each congregation or men’s group contribute at least $100.00 per year in lieu of the .15 cents per ccc member chartering “fee”.  Some groups are already doing so, and for this we are extremely thankful.  IF you will do this, you will enable us to pay off the Yount Lodge pledge and to move on into other areas of ministry where we cannot go now.  We will be able to provide scholarships for the One Year To Live retreats and the Building Men for Christ workshops which we cannot do at the present time, as examples of new and exciting ministry to you. 

We ask you to prayerfully consider our situation and to respond as the Holy Spirit leads you.  After all, this is the only ministry in the Lutheran Church that is directed to men, and we are entirely dependent upon you to provide the support necessary to enable us to minister to you, the men of the North Carolina Lutheran Men In Mission.  Our board is currently in the process of revising our constitution and bylaws to accommodate the changing of the church’s policies in 2009.