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Jeanean Merkel, 410-230-3540 or 571-233-4492
Two Lutheran denomination representatives appointed to LSA Board
October 9, 2009 (Baltimore, MD) - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod have made appointments to the national Board of Lutheran Services in America, the Baltimore-based alliance of two Lutheran denominations and their over 300 health and human service organizations.
The Board members were appointed for three-year terms beginning with service October 15-16, 2009:
Rev. Dr. David L. deFreese is Bishop of the Nebraska Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He has served churches throughout Nebraska, including Christ Lutheran, Pierce; Immanuel Lutheran, Bellevue; and First Lutheran Church, Kearney. He has been Director of Camping Ministry at Lewis & Clark Lake, Gavins Point Dam; Chaplain at Martin Luther Home and Bethphage Mission; appeared on “Religion in the News” for WOW-TV and Interchurch Ministries; and a member of the Inter-Lutheran Coordinating Committee for Specialized Pastoral Care and Clinical Education. He is a board member of Interchurch Ministries; Emergency Food & Shelter, Kearney; and United Way of Kearney. Bishop deFreese holds a BA from Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD; a Master of Divinity degree from Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago; and an honorary doctorate from Midland Lutheran College.
Frederick (Fred) G. Kraegel is a self employed financial consultant, currently working in several cities. He began his career with Peat, Marwick Mitchell & Co. (now KPMG LLP) in Chicago and Milwaukee, including as a Partner from 1980 through 1987. From 1987 until 2003 he served as President, Chief Financial Officer or in other senior management positions for companies ranging in size from $150 million to $8 billion in annual revenue. Since 2003 he has been a financial consultant serving a wide range of companies which are experiencing financial difficulties, often involving formal bankruptcy court proceedings. He is also on the boards of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Concordia Plan Services, Inc. and Lutheran University Association, Inc., d/b/a Valparaiso University (currently serving as the Chair of the Board of Directors). He is a graduate of Valparaiso University.
Lutheran Services in America creates opportunities with people in thousands of communities throughout the United States and the Caribbean as an alliance of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, and their over 300 health and human service organizations. Working neighbor to neighbor through services in health care, aging and disability supports, community development, housing, and child and family strengthening, these organizations together touch the lives of one in 50 Americans each year – and have aggregated annual incomes of over $16.6 billion.
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