|
|
|
When the founders of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church covenanted in 1810 to form a new presbytery, they were focused on the pressing needs of the American frontier, not on the centuries to come. They gave little thought to the future continuation of the life and ministry of the new Church which they were initiating. That is would one day look toward its third century of service did not, in all likelihood, enter their minds.
However, in less than twenty years--less than a single generation--a General Assembly was formed and the future for witness and ministry expanded before the young Church. The next twenty years, following 1829 and the organization of the Assembly, saw the Church begin to receive bequests, as the first generation of Cumberland Presbyterians joined that "great cloud of witnesses" spoken of in the Epistle to the Hebrews. These bequests came from a faith that had expanded beyond immediate needs and now envisioned a Cumberland Presbyterian future on an ever-changing frontier. These persons committed a portion--sometimes all--of their accumulated assets to a future glimpsed only through the eyes of faith. Through their bequests our first endowments were created.
These remarkably visionary individuals were persons who, whether they fully grasped it or not, were indeed "committed for the centuries" through the continuing witness and ministry of a Cumberland Presbyterian Church now looking toward its third century of mission.
In 1836, the General Assembly first elected trustees to hold property for the benefit of the whole Church. Later, in 1840, the Board of Trustees of the General Assembly was chartered by the State of Kentucky. Today, the Board of Stewardship, Foundation and Benefits continues that work as a Tennessee corporation, successor to that Board of Trustees. Responding to Assembly-assigned responsibilities to manage the endowments established to support the mission of the Church, we warmly embrace this new call to help congregations develop their individual endowment programs. Through this new emphasis, today's generation of Cumberland Presbyterians can become, like those who have gone before them, "committed for the centuries." Such visionaries are needed as we look to the beginning, on February 4, 2010, of our third century of witness and service in the name of our Lord.
HOME FOUNDATION ENDOWMENTS For more information, contact Richard Magrill
Page updated on May 2, 2007 Pages maintained by Elinor Swindle Brown