Considering an Endowment Fund for Our Church

To start our church session meeting this evening, our pastor shared a devotional focusing on these verses from Matthew 6:25-24. We are hearing a presentation from a subcommittee that has proposed the creation of an endowment fund for our church. When this was brought up for a vote a few weeks ago at our annual congregational meeting, some members expressed concerns that creating an endowment fund might not follow Biblical directives regarding the use and stewardship of the congregation’s funds.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

This endowment is NOT intended to take the place of our operating budget or existing stewardship programs. As a result of congregational concerns, a presentation has been created to explain the rationale and proposed setup / operating procedures of this endowment fund.

Here are a few key points from the presentation:

Endowment Gift / Types:

• Undesigated: Bequests received which are not designated for a particular purpose or restricted in any way
• Missions, Evangelism, Outreach
• Scholarships: First preference for active members, either high school graduates or those seeking advanced degrees
• Christian Life Development: Youth program expansion, camp scholarships, leadership training, etc.
• Music, Worship, Arts: Enhance the worship experience
• Building: Provide capital improvements, repairs, equipment, etc.

I liked these comments from one of our elders at the meeting:

Our tax laws were not around during the time of the 1st century church.

Also:

Many of us are [financially] worth far more dead than we are alive.

There are stories being shared of members of our church who gave to endowments for other area churches in the past in their will/trust, rather than to our church, because this giving option was not available at our church. I know a little about the value of endowments because of the work my dad has done with our local community foundation in Manhattan, Kansas.

This is the current, proposed flowchart for how the church endowment would work.