Dr. Kurt Senske

of Austin, Texas

Chairman

Elected to Board: 2019; Re-elected: 2022

Term Expires: 2025

Appointed Chair: 2020

Senske spent 23 years as CEO of Upbring (formerly Lutheran Social Services of the South), a multi-state agency with nearly 1,000 employees, after working as assistant to the president for Concordia University Texas, practicing law, and serving as a political consultant. He now consults for several foundations and nonprofit/for-profit organizations. He previously was board chair for Thrivent and Thrivent Charitable and served two terms on the LCMS board. Senske completed undergraduate studies in business administration at Concordia University Texas and Valparaiso University. He holds a law degree from the University of Illinois, earned a Ph.D. at the University of Texas, and has authored five books.

Kristi Matus

of Boxford, Massachusetts

Elected to Board: 2022

Term Expires: 2025

Appointed Vice Chair: 2023

Matus serves as corporate chief financial officer/chief operating officer of Buckle, a tech-enabled, financial-services company, and provides leadership to the finance functions as well as all shared services (HR, IT, Legal, etc.). Previously, she was an executive advisor at Thomas H. Lee Partners, CFAO at athenahealth, and held executive leadership positions at Aetna, USAA, and Thrivent. Matus currently chairs board committees for Equitable, Alliance Bernstein, and Cerence, and previously served on the boards for Concordia Plan Services and Concordia University Texas. A lifelong Lutheran, she received a Distinguished Service Award from Concordia University, Nebraska in 2014. She earned a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics from the University of Wisconsin—Oshkosh.

Eric Brown

of Adel, Iowa

Elected to Board: 2022

Term Expires: 2025

Appointed Treasurer: 2024

An accomplished school business official, Brown prepared, maintained, and analyzed a general operating budget of $240 million for the Rochester Public Schools (Minnesota) before moving to Iowa in 2021. As business manager, school business official, and school board secretary/treasurer of the Adel DeSoto Minburn Community School District, he oversees finance, human resources, payroll, school nutrition, and student registration. Brown previously was a senior accountant for Foster Group, Inc. in Des Moines, Iowa. He served as treasurer at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Rochester and was honored with the Rising Star Award by the Minnesota Association of School Business Officials. Brown earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Concordia University, Nebraska.

Donald Scifres

of Greenwood, Indiana

Elected to Board: 2022

Term Expires: 2025

Appointed Secretary: 2023

Scifres is president of mergers, acquisitions, investments & strategy at K Launch. He is also co-founder and general partner at VisionTech Partners. His extensive board service includes Lutheran Church Extension Fund, Bloomerang, SmarterHQ, and the Indiana District of the LCMS. Scifres is a founding member of Indiana University’s School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering Dean’s Council and has served on many school boards, including Lutheran High of Indianapolis. He holds a B.S. in technology from Purdue University and was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus in 2014. Scifres earned executive education certificates from the University of Virginia and Cornell University. He and his wife, Jill, co-chair a national cabinet for LHM.

Karl Abraham

of Lochaber-Ouest, Quebec, Canada

Elected to Board: 2023

Term Expires: 2026

Abraham has served increasingly senior positions for Environment and Climate Change Canada, a federal department for the Canadian government, since 2002. He currently is chief engineer for electricity policy, managing a team of more than 20 engineers and focusing on the generation of electricity through engaging with stakeholders, developing policy, and promoting and administering regulations. He has received numerous employment awards for his contributions to various regulations and program development. As a trained chemical engineer, he has an extensive background in program design, policy governance, communications, and strategic thinking. Abraham has held several volunteer positions at his home congregations, including Sunday school teacher, trustee/secretary, and member of the church council.

Linda Arnold

of Oswego, Illinois

Elected to Board: 2021; Re-elected: 2024

Term Expires: 2027

Following a long nursing career, Arnold retired in 2019 after eight years as an assistant professor at Lewis University’s College of Nursing, where she taught baccalaureate courses and served as chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee. A commissioned LCMS church worker, she served as LWML vice president for communication, chair of LWML’s Board of Directors’ Restructuring Committee, and on the Women’s Leadership Institute Advisory Board for Concordia University Wisconsin (including chair). Arnold has led more than 30 international short-term mission teams. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing and a master’s degree in nursing education.

Melanie Braun

of Tempe, Arizona

Elected to Board: 2021; Re-elected: 2024

Term Expires: 2027

Braun is co-owner and private wealth advisor of a financial planning practice and has more than 32 years of experience in marketing, communications, consulting, and leadership in government, education, and financial services. Her congregational involvement at Gethsemane Church has included the worship team, sanctuary building committee, nominations and hiring teams, and a mission trip to Guatemala. Her community service experience includes the Lutheran Church Extension Fund’s loan committee. Braun earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Concordia University, St. Paul, and an MBA from University of Phoenix. She is a Certified Financial Planner™ professional and holds the Accredited Portfolio Manager Advisor (APMA™) designation.

Ryan Bredow

of Gilbert, Arizona

Elected to Board: 2023

Term Expires: 2026

Bredow serves as assistant vice president for K12 educational development at Grand Canyon University (GCU) following 15 years with Lutheran secondary schools in Colorado and Wisconsin as a teacher/basketball coach, admissions director, and marketing director. He consults with districts, schools, and organizations nationwide on promotion strategies, enhanced branding and marketing considerations, and innovative funding models to grow Christian education. A graduate of Concordia University, Nebraska, he holds a master’s degree in marketing (specializing in entrepreneurship) from the University of Colorado at Denver and a doctorate degree in education/organizational leadership from GCU. A lifelong LCMS member, Bredow is actively involved at his church through adult Bible class leadership and youth studies/retreats.

Jim Dankenbring

of St. Louis, Missouri

Elected to Board: 2020; Re-elected: 2023

Term Expires: 2026

Dankenbring is a partner in the law firm Spencer Fane LLP, representing businesses in mergers and acquisitions, securities matters, contract negotiations, and executive compensation. He was previously a certified public accountant with Ernst & Young. Dankenbring led his congregation’s capital campaign and has served or chaired numerous non-profit boards like Lutheran Senior Services, Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis, The Foundation for Called Workers, and Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch Foundation. A long-time LHM supporter, he and his wife co-chaired LHM’s SENT Initiative. His many distinctions include The Best Lawyers in America® (2012-2023) and Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year in Corporate Compliance Law (2017), and Corporate Governance Law (2022).

Mark Duesenberg

of Rocky River, Ohio

Elected to Board: 2024

Term Expires: 2027

Duesenberg has 23 years of experience guiding global manufacturing and services companies across several industries to enhanced levels of growth, optimization, risk management, and corporate governance. He has served on senior leadership teams for organizations headquartered in the United States, Asia, and Europe (residing in Europe for nine years). His nonprofit board experience includes serving as chair for We Raise Foundation, vice chair of the governance committee at Valparaiso University, and as a member of the audit committee for the American Arbitration Association. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Valparaiso University and a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School.

Dr. Kirk Farney

of Hinsdale, Illinois

Appointed to Board: 2022

Term Expires: 2025

Since 2014, Farney has been VP for Advancement, Vocation, and Alumni Engagement at Wheaton College, where he is also a member of the history faculty. He previously was an international banking executive for 26 years. Farney chairs the strategy committee on Thrivent’s board and served on boards of Wheat Ridge Ministries and Concordia University Chicago. He holds a B.S. in finance and agricultural economics (University of Illinois), M.B.A. in marketing (Northwestern), M.A. in theology (Wheaton College), and an M.A. in history and Ph.D. in American religious history (Notre Dame). Farney is the author of Ministers of a New Medium: Broadcasting Theology in the Radio Ministries of Fulton J. Sheen and Walter A. Maier.

Vincent W. James

of Boston, Massachusetts

Elected to Board: 2021; Re-elected: 2024

Term Expires: 2027

Appointed BOD Representative to LHM Foundation: 2022

James spent 20 years as director of admissions at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He directed recruitment activities for prospective students interested in master’s and doctorate programs. He previously was associate director of admissions/director of the educational council at Massachusetts Institute of Technology after filling programming and systems analyst roles for various organizations. A current representative on The Lutheran Hour Ministries Foundation’s Board of Trustees, he has served as chief elder and congregation president as well as other volunteer roles at First Lutheran Church. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from MIT and an MBA from Rutgers University.

Dr. Virginia Miller

of Rochester, Minnesota

Elected to Board: 2020; Re-elected: 2023

Term Expires: 2026

Miller is professor emerita of surgery/physiology at the Mayo Clinic after retiring as director of the Women’s Health Research Center. Her research focused on women’s conditions and was published more than 250 times. Her congregational service includes stewardship and chair of mission outreach. She recently served two terms as board chair for AbleLight (formerly Bethesda Lutheran Communities), held positions on numerous other councils, grant review panels, and editorial boards, and received several honors for visionary leadership and research. Miller earned a B.S. in education from Slippery Rock University, a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri, and an MBA from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson Executive School of Management.

Rev. Tom Pfotenhauer

of Woodbury, Minnesota

Appointed to Board: 2022

Term Expires: 2025

Pastor Tom Pfotenhauer joined the staff at Woodbury Lutheran Church in 2008 as an associate pastor. He has a heart for watching families grow deeper and more passionate in their faith walk. He also has a heart for missions both locally and abroad. In 2012, he was called to serve as the senior pastor of Woodbury Lutheran. His ministry passion is walking and talking with people wherever they are at in their lives, helping them wrestle with the tough issues, and seeing what Scripture says about them. He wants to challenge the congregation to be more focused on meeting the needs of others, to be obedient to God’s Word, and to be actively involved in building the Kingdom of God in the surrounding community. He and his wife Stephanie have one child.

Gordon D. Tresch

of Williamsville, New York

Elected to Board: 2021; Re-elected: 2024

Term Expires: 2027

Tresch is a former partner at the Feldman Kieffer law firm, specializing in civil litigation defense with a concentration in medical malpractice and municipal law. His extensive church related involvement also includes serving as chair of the LCMS Commission on Handbook, on the LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters, as an LCMS convention delegate, and as chair and member of the LCMS Eastern District Board. Tresch was named a “Servant of Christ” by the LCMS Eastern District in 2018 and received Fortress Insurance’s Attorney of the Year award in 2007. He holds B.A. and J.D. degrees.