Thrivent Financial News— A roundup of news and features

HERITAGE

Art Reflects Nature

The Minneapolis Institute of Art will host the exhibition A Mirror of Nature: Nordic Landscape Painting 1840-1910 in its Target Special Exhibitions Gallery June 24—Sept. 2.

The exhibition, which is being sponsored by the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Foundation, explores the special Nordic sense of affinity with nature and the significance landscape has had, and continues to have, in Nordic culture and thinking. The exhibition includes about 115 paintings by artists such as Edvard Munch, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Laurits Andersen Ring and J.C. Dahl.

The Minneapolis Institute of Art is the only U.S. venue to host this extraordinary exhibition. It has been shown at galleries in the Nordic capitals of Helsinki, Stockholm and Oslo, and will move to Copenhagen following the exhibition in Minneapolis.

This exhibit is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the people of Minnesota—recognized as the center of Nordic heritage and interest in the U.S.—and art enthusiasts from across the country to view these celebrated works of art. The Minneapolis Institute of Art anticipates the exhibition will attract many people.

To learn more and find out how you can visit the Minneapolis Institute of Art, visit www.thrivent.com/magazine/links.

LEADERSHIP

Welcome a Familiar Face

In its search for a senior vice president of marketing, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans found the ideal candidate close to home—a member of its own board of directors.

Tim Lehman was appointed to the Thrivent Financial board in March 2005, and recently left his directorship to take on a new position as senior vice president of marketing for the organization. Lehman also will be a member of the organization’s executive management team.

“We are excited to have Tim play a more direct role in Thrivent Financial’s future by having him join the organization in this key strategic position,” says Pam Moret, executive vice president of Marketing and Products.

Lehman was president of the adult/feminine care sector for Kimberly-Clark Corporation in Neenah, Wisconsin, until April 2006. He worked in various positions for Kimberly-Clark since 1984. He and his family attend Martin Luther Evangelical Lutheran Church in Neenah, where he is president of the congregation.

INVESTMENTS

Batting Above Average

Strong performance and innovative solutions best sum up the three-year progress of Thrivent Investment Management, a subsidiary of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. This progress is tied to the asset management strategy implemented by Russ Swansen, chief investment officer, starting in 2004. Core ingredients of this strategy included generating a consistent, competitive performance and offering expanded choices for investors.

One key indicator of that performance is the “batting average” of the Thrivent Mutual Funds. The batting average is the percentage of mutual funds ranked by Lipper—a Reuters-owned firm that tracks 80,000 mutual funds worldwide—in the 50th percentile or better. As of Dec. 31, 2006, 65 percent of the internally managed Thrivent Mutual Funds outperformed their Lipper medians over a one-year period, and 58 percent over a three-year period.

“Through research, experience and a disciplined approach, we believe we can continue to generate strong results, with less risk, over the long term,” Swansen says.

“We will continue to enhance our business with an eye toward our investors’ interests first,” Swansen says. “Integrity will always be at our core as we provide a sophisticated investment approach that should continue to translate into competitive investment products.”

EDUCATION

Retreat at Heartwood

Thrivent Financial is co-sponsoring three Lutheran programs at the Heartwood Conference Center in Trego, Wisconsin. Heartwood™ was purchased in October 2005 by an affiliate of Thrivent Financial to carry out and complement the organization’s mission. Two of the ways it does that is by making its facilities available to Thrivent Financial members at a discount, and by partnering with Lutheran organizations to offer programming. Programs in 2007 include:

• The Grace Place Retreat for Lutheran Educators, July 9-14, co-sponsored by Grace Place Retreat Ministries, is for Lutheran educators and their spouses to learn new ways to be healthy in mind, body and spirit.
• The Faith and Business Forum, co-sponsored by the Spirit in the Desert Lutheran Retreat Center, Aug. 22-24. Participants will explore the challenges of maintaining a personalized faith-based life in business and industry.
• The Association of Lutheran Older Adults Colorama Lutherhostel, Sept. 23-28, will include daily devotionals, music and Bible studies, as well as local cultural activities.

For more information on these programs or any of the amenities that Heartwood offers, visit www.thrivent.com/magazine/heartwood or call Heartwood™ at 800-577-4848.

LEADERSHIP

Three Elected to Board

Members of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans elected three incumbents to four-year terms on the organization’s 13-member board of directors. Adrian M. Tocklin, Allan R. Spies and Frank H. Dick Moeller received the highest number of votes after benefit members voted by mail during the period of Oct. 15-Nov. 30, 2006. Votes for the open positions were cast by 284,096 Thrivent Financial benefit members. The independent accounting firm Schenck Business Solutions tabulated the results.

Tocklin, of St. Petersburg, Florida, has served on the board since 2003. Spies, of Denver, Colorado, has served on the board since 2005. Moeller, of Austin, Texas, has served on the board since 2005.

Board Retirements
Richard E. Beumer, Robert H. Hoffman and the Rev. Thomas R. Zehnder retired from the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Board of Directors effective Jan. 31, 2007, due to age and/or term limits as defined by the bylaws of the organization.

“We thank them for their years of service and commitment to the organization and for the experience, leadership, integrity and wisdom they have brought to the board of directors,” says Bruce Nicholson, chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Choose Your Board
Thrivent Financial benefit members, as members of their local chapters, have a unique opportunity to participate in the nomination of candidates for the 2007 board election. Chapters can make nominations between April 1 and May 31, 2007. To make a nomination or learn more, contact your chapter president. To find out which chapter you belong to, call 800-THRIVENT (800-847-4836) and select option 3 for Fraternal Services. Or visit www.thrivent.com/members. First-time visitors will need to register.

HERITAGE

Thrivent Financial Traveling Exhibit

An exhibition from the Thrivent Financial Collection of Religious Art, The Inspired Line: Selected Prints of Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt van Rijn continues to tour small and mid-size museums across the United States.

The exhibition, which is being managed by ExhibitsUSA, a nonprofit arts exhibitions touring organization, features 40 Old Master prints, including several pairs of works in which the two artists—Dürer and Rembrandt—each executed his own version of the same subject matter, like The Crucifixion.

The exhibition is currently in Corpus Christi, Texas, and will be traveling to Tallahassee, Florida, and Great Bend and Topeka, Kansas, in 2007. Dates already are set for 2008 in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Maui, Hawaii; and in 2009 in Laurel, Mississippi, and Belton, Texas.

For information on locations and dates, visit www.thrivent.com/magazine/links.