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Endowment Questions & Answers

Westminster launched a new and improved Endowment Fund that provides an opportunity to designate gifts for specific programs. Two members of the Endowment Committee, Steve Bright and Don Hawkes explain how the Endowment Fund works.

Q. How did this Endowment Fund idea come about?
A. Steve: The Endowment isn't new. It's been in place at Westminster for I can't tell you how many years, but it has sort of been flying under the radar. Nobody has really paid much attention to it. So(Rev.) Bob (Henderson) wrote me a letter year and said he would like to rejuvenate the Endowment to promote our congregation's long-term vitality. Specifically, he wanted to enhance several program areas at Westminster through targeted Endowment income."

Q. What kinds of programs would the Endowment Fund support?
A. Steve: The first two we are focusing on initially are the Excellence in Music Fund and the Finish Strong Youth Fund. The music fund is deigned to enable whoever is leading our program to bring in guest musicians and small orchestras and provide the best music available to the Westminster congregation. It also will create music magnet events that distinguish our music program and reach out to the community.

Another fund in the Finish Strong Youth Fund, in which any junior or senior in high school who commits to an in-depth course of study with the youth minister will then complete that course by taking a study/mission trip to the Holy Land. This trip will be taken every other year and will be largely underwritten by the Endowment. It would be a way to give our youth a solid foundation for the rest of their lives.

Q. How exactly does the Endowment Fund work?

A. Steve: It invests whatever funds are available and then a portion of the growth from those funds is typically reinvested and another portion is used for a specific purpose, such as the Excellence in Music Fund or the Finish Strong Youth Fund. So this money lasts indefinitely. Year after year it is growing and funding a specific purpose.

A. Don: It's such a great opportunity to be able to make a difference and know that difference is going to be made each and every year, now and 50 years from now. We've talked about legacy, and how legacy is important to our church. Sarah Benson talked in her presentation (October 2006) about our church's great legacy. This is an opportunity to be a part of something that is much, much bigger. Like Bob (Rev. Henderson) said in a recent sermon, each one of us can't do great things, but collectively as a group, we can do great things.

Q. What is your fundraising goal for the Endowment?
A. Steve: Our hope is to raise $500,000 for each fund. We plan to be very proactive, talking with individual members of the church and holding neighborhood meetings after the first of the year to present this vision. We hope to wrap up during the first quarter of 2007. And then, of course, there is an ongoing campaign that will last indefinitely, which encourages embers to donate stocks, insurance policies or whatever assets they have to share with the church.

Q. Has there been some confusion about the Endowment Fund versus the Stewardship Campaign?
A. Don: The reason for that is because the lifeblood of our church is the annual operational budget, which is arrived at and met via stewardship pledges. That's the day-to-day ministry of our church. There is no question that people in the church know that I am passionate about stewardship, period. But the Endowment can provide our church with something that's really special."

Q. What's next in terms of the Endowment Fund?
A. Steve: One of the things Bob (Rev. Henderson) is hoping for is a training/mentoring ground for those interested in ministry in one form or another. Perhaps two or three recent college or seminary graduates would come here for a one-year "residency" program in which they would serve in two program areas at the church and meet regularly with the senior minister to discuss matters of ministry, mission, vocation, and spiritual growth. He calls that "Mentoring for the Future Residency Fund." Down the road we would introduce new funds to which people can contribute.