CHICAGO, IL (October 16, 2013) — Dean Lundgren, vice president of finance and director of pensions for the Covenant, announced today that he would retire after 22 years of service, effective July 31, 2014.
Lundgren joined the Covenant Offices staff in 1992 as treasurer for the denomination and became the first director of the MBA program at North Park University the same year.
“What a great privilege and honor it has been for me to serve my church, its pastors, and missionaries,” said Lundgren, who also is the chair of Covenant Trust Company.
“I will miss it, but I also am looking forward to serving God in additional ways and having more time to spend with my wife, Jill, children and grandchildren.”
The Massachusetts native, known for his sports references when giving reports to the Annual Meeting, quipped, “I’ll also have more time to watch the Red Sox and Patriots.”
President Gary Walter said, “Dean has served for more than 20 years motivated by all the right reasons, using his considerable gifts in unreserved service to God.” He added, “His integrity and acumen mean financially we have managed both for mission effectiveness and fiscal responsibility.”
“We at Covenant Trust Company have had the pleasure of working closely with Dean,” said President Ann Wiesbrock. “We appreciate his generosity in sharing ideas and his wisdom. He has had a very positive impact on the entire Covenant by sharing his financial expertise.”
During Lundgren’s tenure, the pension plan grew from $42 million in assets under management in 1992 to more $204 million today. The plan is 104 percent funded, and the minimum payments pastors and missionaries receive have more than doubled.
Enrollment in Bethany Benefit Service has increased 50 percent. Medical rate increases went up only 4.5 percent annually over the past 10 years, well below the industry average. Since 1992, the medical plan has added long-term disability, prescription drugs, dental, and vision benefits.
Lundgren served as director of the North Park MBA program until 2001 and also was professor of strategic management. Under his leadership, the Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management was started, as was the dual degree program for students that combined theological instruction from North Park Theological Seminary with business and nonprofit administration education. It was the first program of its kind in the United States.
Lundgren’s previous business experience include serving as vice president of Cigna Corporation, where he worked for 20 years and was involved with investment management, strategic planning, corporate development, and investment marketing.
Lundgren is a lifelong Covenanter. He has been a member of Covenant congregations in Attleboro, Massachusetts; New Britain, Connecticut; and Palatine, Illinois. He has served in Covenant board leadership positions for local churches, regional conference institutions, and at the denominational level.
He earned a bachelor’s degree at Brown University, an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, and a doctorate from Harvard University.
Dean, it has been a pleasure to know since our days on the North Park Board and then through our subsequent interactions after you joined the ECC staff. I count it a privilege to have worked with you during two different terms on the Executive Board Finance Committee. You have taught me a lot, not only about stewardship and financial management, but also about the loyalty and devotion of the staff of our denomination. Thank you for sharing your gifts and talents with the individuals with whom you work as well as with the larger body of the ECC. We will all miss you as you retire, but we pray God’s richest blessing on you as you begin the next phase of your life.
Congratulations Dean on joining the rest of us retirees! And thank you for the great job you’ve done for the Covenant over not only these past two decades but the many ways you served before you moved to Covenant HG. May God give you and Jill many happy and fruitful years enjoying a slower, active, pace and your family. Hopefully we’ll see more of you here on Cape Cod in your more relaxed life.
Profuse thanks, Dean, for your faithful service to the Covenant and to those of us participating in the Covenant Ministers’ Pension Program. It has been reassuring to know that you have been watching over our retirement resources in such a careful and wise way. Thanks for your other considerable contirubtions as a Covenant administrator overseeing the church’s finances. We have been blessed by your stewardship and servant leadership.
Those of us who are retired pastors can all say a great hearty “thank you” Dean as he has heart for pastors that continues through their retirement years. Through his expertise in handling the funds, we have been assured to receive a good pension for as long as we live, and provide for our spouses when we are gone. We will miss your newsletter and hope someone else will pick up the pen and continue with that feature. God bless you as you move on to another season of life.
What an excellent man!
Dean has been an incredible gift to the Covenant and its ministries. His intelligence and seasoned experience is exceeded only by his heart for the mission of the kingdom. He also has a great sense of humor … Red Sox and Patriots? It was a great pleasure to work with him over the years … will be interesting to see in what ways God re-engages him in new adventures.
Thank you, Dean, for your years of dedicated service. Your expertise coupled with your Christian dedication and testimony, have truly been a blessing——to say nothing of the humor in the monthly pension letter.
Dean has served all of the Covenant institutions so well! I’m thankful to God for his many gifts that he so freely shared. So smart, yet so humble and always a good sense of humor. Thanks so much for your faithful service, Dean, and blessings on this new season.