Your NovusWay Board had a very productive meeting this past weekend at Lutheranch. We would like to share some important decisions and other valuable information with you.
Financial. We reviewed the year-end financial statements for 2023. This is the first time yearend information has been available at our March meeting in many years. The financial year ended much as we expected, with a deficit of slightly more than $1 million. The good news is that after making the difficult decisions we had to make in November of 2023, we ended January net positive financially. Thank you for your support and prayers as we continue to navigate our financial challenges. We also addressed several other critical financial issues, including approving a 5-year debt reduction plan to allocate some of the proceeds from various fundraising efforts to debt reduction.
CEO Reports. Our co-CEOs discussed the latest Dashboard. The Dashboard is a new graphic tool the Board will start receiving monthly. It summarizes key metrics to help the staff and board assess where we are on items like occupancy and spending across all four sites so decisions can be made expediently and efficiently. Mike and Mitzie also reported on some additional metrics that are being used to help the staff identify goals and progress. The co-CEOs are also implementing new registration software that will make registration more user-friendly and maintenance software that will identify and therefore help us plan for much-needed maintenance, repairs, and replacements.
Board Training. The co-CEOs led us in valuable training on the history of the ministry and key roles and responsibilities as Board members. We had a great discussion and exchanged ideas for improving our work as Board members. Board training is part of a continuous process of learning and growing. The Governance Committee will schedule a board training component for each of our future Board meetings.
Camp Updates. The Board received updates on various projects and activities at each of the camps. In particular, a variety of activities are being planned for the Lutheridge 75th Anniversary. Lutheridge and Lutherock will receive new mattresses. We approved a Lutherock vision task force. We approved land sales at both Luther Springs and Lutheranch, which we are reporting to you in a separate release. The team is working on various fundraising activities for all camps.
Permanent CEO Update. The Board approved specific goals for our Intentional Interim co-CEOs that will further help us position the organization to begin the search for a permanent CEO. While we are not yet ready to start the search, we have an ongoing process to review and assess our progress toward our goals. At our August Board meeting, we will again review our progress toward a permanent CEO.
Strategic Plan. With the current strategic plan scheduled to run through the end of 2024, the Board requested that the staff assess its status and make recommendations to the Board at its August 2024 meeting on the next steps to update and extend the plan. This critical component will inform and assist us in moving to a permanent CEO.
Officers. The Board approved officers and Executive Committee members for 2024-2025, effective July 1, 2024. Reelected were Floyd Self, President; Ranate Patrick, Vice President; Kami Kinard, Secretary; and Jerry Johnson, Treasurer, all of whom are in their first terms. Our newly elected executive committee member is Pastor Jason Lee. The Executive Committee generally meets every other week between Board meetings, and they work actively with the co-CEOs to support them on behalf of the Board.
The Board’s next in-person meeting is August 1-3, 2024, at Lutheridge, but the Board has a standing Zoom meeting scheduled for each month in the interim for any items requiring the Board’s attention.
