FaithLife Financial Has Been Growing and Giving for 40 Years!

WATERLOO, ON, June 29, 2012 /CNW/ - For the past 40 years our members have been devoted to professional, religious, charitable and social activities in Canada and around the world. They know that FaithLife Financial exists to serve them because we have been re-investing a portion of our profits toward the causes they care about for four decades.

We thank our 33,000 members who volunteer to build a better world! Between 1972 and 2011, FaithLife Financial has given over $14 million to the causes our Members care about with a Charitable Impact of over 33 million.* As we celebrate 40 years of faith and finances, we remember our rich history.

Lutheran Life Insurance Society of Canada was born under the sponsorship of two American fraternal benefit societies - Aid Association for Lutherans and Lutheran Brotherhood. It received Letters Patent on June 28, 1972 to formally create Lutheran Life - providing insurance protection and benefit programs for Canadian Lutherans. Operations began in January of 1973, with 19 staff serving members in five provinces from rented office space in Waterloo, ON. In 1973, President Walter Rugland presented the first policies issued in Ontario to infants Sarah Gingrich and Peter Schendel. President Rugland's son, Walter Rugland, is currently a Board member and he says, "My dad, Walter L. Rugland, was the first President of Lutheran Life Insurance Society of Canada. He was an ultimate fraternalist and insurance executive. I can see his handprints on the structure and operations of FaithLife Financial. Upon retirement from an insurance career, it's been a pleasure for me to join the directors of FaithLife Financial to continue the inherited legacy."

By the 1980's, the society had grown and our member-owned assets exceeded the $100 million milestone. In 1988, one of Lutheran Life's founding directors, Dr. William Hordern, turned the first shovel of ground on the site of our new head office at 470 Weber Street North in Waterloo, ON. Our new building was officially opened and dedicated in November of 1989 and this rich history of growth, strength and service continued into the next decades.

In 2004, membership was extended beyond the Lutheran Church to include the broader Christian community. We began operating as FaithLife Financial in 2005. At that time, new branding with the current logo and mission statement was also introduced.

In 2012, our Board of Directors adopted new core values based on the Scripture Romans 12:7-8. These values inspired a new vision which describes the future state that will exist as we achieve our Mission. President and CEO Karen Bjerland says, "FaithLife Financial is committed to our new vision statement which is: Vibrant communities of people living by Christian financial principles - inspired to grow in stewardship, compassion and generosity. This vision is challenging and it expresses hope for the future - outlining the effect of the services to which FaithLife Financial is committed."

*This includes funds raised by Chapter volunteers and the value of their time based on a calculation rate recommended by the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy.

About FaithLife Financial

FaithLife Financial is a Christian, not-for-profit, member-based financial services organization that provides insurance and investment solutions to more than 33,000 members in Canada. It administers assets of $644 million and has over $2.4 billion of in-force insurance as of December 31, 2011. The organization reinvests a portion of its earnings in programs that support members, their congregations and communities, as well as people in need worldwide. Its mission is to help Canadian Christians protect their financial future, live their Christian values and build a better world.

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Anne Yurkiv
Director of Marketing and Outreach
Bus: 519-886-4617 ext. 258
[email protected]
www.faithlifefinancial.ca