Bridge 10/03
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The American and Foreign Christian Union Spring 2004 TheThe BrBridgeidge Connecting Our Churches and Friends around the World Committees — In order to improve the effective- in the endowment funding. The work of this Task ness of our standing committees we have asked each Force will play a major role in assuring that we one to establish their own mission, purpose and meet this challenge. goals. The goals should be both short term and long The ministries of the three churches in Europe un- term. With this discipline in place, each committee der our tutelage were described in our last edition will then report on their progress at the Annual of The Bridge. We have made the above changes to Meetings. Thus, we should be able to monitor the our organization to improve our support of those overall effectiveness of the AFCU by the work and ministries. accomplishments of our committees. At the present time we have nine committees working for the ful- Jim Craig, AFCU President fillment of the AFCU objectives. A Board Member chairs each committee. Their membership is made of up Board Members and other selected represen- AFCU Development tatives from alumni, church affiliations and con- Committee Report sultants. The current committees and their chairs are listed as follows: The AFCU Development Committee meeting in Naples was attended by 30 devoted volunteers, all Committee Chair focused on how we can assure the valuable minis- Annual Meeting Executive James Craig tries of our three European churches can flourish well into the future. The challenges are great, but The AFCU Annual Meeting was held in Naples, Heritage Russell McNaughton the enthusiasm of these dedicated volunteers prom- Florida on March 29, 2004. We had 25 of the 28 Finance William McArthur ises that they will be met. On the morning before members in attendance as well as the Senior Pas- Audit Henning Egner our regular all-day meeting, we met in sub-groups tors and lay representatives from The American Development Jerry Burns focused on each of the three churches. Church in Paris, The American Church in Berlin Jerry Krupp and the Vienna Community Church. The commit- Communications Katherine Eppert Each of our Champions is in place with a support- ment, dedication and energies of this group are to Personnel Don Eppert ing sub-committee to plan and execute the activi- be commended. Archives Eunice Raar ties in their respective area of focus. Search Norm Findley In addition to our normal course of business, there These leaders along with their were some changes made in assignments and fo- Task Forces — Task forces have a different scope focus area are as follows: cus that will be the topic for this letter. and purpose than committees. They have a defined objective to accomplish and when the work is done Database of Church Alumni Coordinator Mission — As reported in the last Bridge article, the task force is dissolved. In order to focus our — Megan Foster we are in the process of redefining our Mission attention on increasing the total endowment fund AFCU Website — Bob DeLuryea Statement. The current one does not adequately of the AFCU we have initiated an Endowment Task cover the scope of our overall purpose. In order to Force. The role of this group will be to establish Heritage Society/Estate Planning clarify our role with the churches and our alumni the goals, along with developing and implement- — Russ McNaughton we feel the need to clearly define our reason for ing the action plans that will have a significant im- Friends Receptions — Rita Krupp being. Thus a task force has been established to pact on increasing the overall endowment fund. In write a new Mission Statement for the AFCU. We order to accomplish the overall mission of the will report the approved version in our next letter. AFCU we will need to make a significant increase Continued on page 2 Published for Friends of the American Churches in Paris and Berlin, and Vienna Community Church Continued from page 1 News from the AFCU Finance Committee Communications — Kathie Eppert The AFCU finance committee is responsible for greater responsibility for financial reporting and the financial management of the AFCU funds and management. Annual Solicitations — for honoring the intent of donors and Friends who Calder Ehrmann At the recent board meeting, the budget for 2004 support this organization through their generous was approved. The AFCU budget for 2004 antici- Donor & Volunteer Recognition giving. pates revenues of $141,000 from stewardship giv- — John Rogers The AFCU finance committee is chaired by Will- ing, $136,800 from Friends and other designated Capital Funds Campaign iam MacArthur, committee members include: Rob- giving, and $150,000 in investment income. Ex- Coordination — Mike Simpson ert Dunlop, Hening Egner, Jim Hicks, Dominique penses budgeted for 2004 are comprised of expenses Jerry Burns & Jerry Krupp, Soret, and Julie Voskuil. for ongoing commitments, like the Senior Pastor Co-Chairs of the AFCU At the recent AFCU board meeting, the committee salary at the American Church in Paris, giving for Development Committee identified their key responsibilities as: capital improvements as requested by the churches, and grants which return stewardship giving to the •Oversight of the AFCU’s investment various congregations based on historical levels of portfolio. stewardship receipts, other expenses relate to the “Friends” Carry On • Setting investment strategy and Asset management of the AFCU. Due to the significance allocation. amount of volunteer effort, expenses for running TV’s well-known “Friends” may be history but the the AFCU are less than 6% of total expenses. Many AFCU Friends Program continues to be a vital link •Timely reporting of financial performance. charities target administrative expenses of 10% of between the 3 American churches and returning Currently the AFCU financial reports are being total expenditures, the AFCU operates at nearly half members. It has been difficult to keep in touch and audited by our independent auditor for the years of this targeted level. coordinate activities with Alumni and friends from ending December 31, 2002 and 2003. Also, our new Julie Voskuil, AFCU Asst. Treasurer Paris, Berlin and Vienna who are spread through- Assistant Treasurer, Julie Voskuil, is assuming out the U S. Now, with 12 geographic Regions be- ing developed, we hope to provide grass roots con- nections and support. Heritage Society Testimonial We’re identifying “Ambassadors” (helpers) in each region that will welcome expats upon their return Our years in Paris were magical. There were agreeing to serve on the Board of the Ameri- and let them know they have friends here who have many moments of discovery, wonder, and can and Foreign Christian Union. shared common experiences abroad. It will give us excitement…at the same time, there were also moments of frustration, loneliness, fear. Where The Heritage Society is an important piece of an opportunity to connect Friends living in nearby the work of the AFCU. By designating a por- areas to share past experiences and build new friend- can one turn as a foreigner in a foreign land? What keeps one grounded when floating in a tion of our financial legacy to the American ships. We plan to continue the regional social gath- Church in Paris through our wills, we have erings tied to cultural events. city of such splendid beauty and maddening challenges? joined this society. We do so because we real- In March, an evening social was enjoyed in Naples, ize how necessary the work of the church will FL with many AFCU Board members attending We turned to the American Church in Paris. be for the legions of English-speaking Chris- from all 3 churches. In April, Friends attended a There we found friends who were experienc- tians to pass through its doors in the years to Bell Choir Concert conducted by Fred Gramann in ing the same highs and lows. There we found come and we want to be sure those doors will NYC and socialized afterwards. a church family to be with us in times of joy always be open to them. We do so because and times of sadness. There we found mean- that church is part of our heritage and we feel Upcoming events are being planned for this fall in ingful worship and spiritual guidance that pro- by so doing, we are able to be a part of its Atlanta, Wash. DC, Seattle and other locations. Stay vided the anchor we needed during our so- heritage. tuned to the AFCU website for dates and details. journ abroad. If the American Church in Paris touched your We need your ideas and support to help us grow. When we returned to the United States, we life, we invite you to also join the Heritage Please contact Rita Krupp at [email protected] left behind one of the most memorable eras Society by remembering the church in your with ideas, names and addresses. of our life. We greatly missed those years in estate planning. You will be returning a gift Rita Krupp, Friends Champion Paris, the stimulating opportunities and dear freely given to you and playing an important friends with whom we had shared a moment part in its continued future. in time like nothing before or since. Because Lynda and Bob DeLuryea the American Church in Paris was such a vi- tal part of that entire period, we welcomed the If you chose to take this step, contact Russ opportunity to stay connected and to return in McNaughton for information and to be en- part all that the church had done for us by tered on the rolls of the Heritage Society at [email protected] 2 “Let There Be Peace ciate Pastor at the American Church in Paris, and ACB and VCC — “change” is a key factor in know- regaled us with the story of his first Sunday in Paris.