To no one’s surprise the Holy Cow! survey we completed last fall showed how committed we are to mission work. To that end 85% of us wanted to recreate the Endowment Fund we once had for the purpose of promoting and developing Christian worship, outreach, and nurture; and also to support secular causes which reflect God’s love for all humankind. In response, the Session created a designated Endowment Fund that is now open to receive your gifts.
The original Endowment Fund held approximately $200,000.00 and during the twelve years it operated, we gave tens of thousands of dollars to help worthy causes and projects such as an educational program for parents of middle and high school students who are involved in risk taking behaviors; in-home learning opportunities for non-English speaking students and parents to learn to speak English; supervised financial support for a young woman as she overcame her drug addiction, became self-sufficient, and began her education at North Georgia Technical College; the vital services provided by F.A.I.T.H. to physically and sexually abused children; the inaugural “Supervised Ministry” training between Columbia Theological Seminary and the Abraham Kriel Child and Youth Care Centre of Potchefstroom, South Africa; and needed improvements at the UGA Presbyterian Student Center, which is used weekly by the Presbyterian, Lutheran, Cooperative Baptist, and Disciples of Christ campus ministries. What is truly amazing is that all of these causes and more were the beneficiaries of one year’s grants.
Our goal is to build the Endowment Fund back to $200,000.00 and, as before, use only the investment income to provide grants selected by an Endowment Fund Committee and approved by the Session. In the long run, it is a means to provide additional ministry through programs that are not regularly funded by our contributions.
This is a challenging goal, but after the mortgage was paid off many of us expressed a willingness to continue giving at a higher level for a good cause; and a very large percentage of us think this is a good cause. Please support the Endowment Fund as you are led.