Foundation of the ELCA, Development Services Leadership Transitioning

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
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