The Endowment Program of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church exists to serve the needs of every level of church life. Receiving support through the program are congregations, presbyteries, dependent children, college students, ministerial candidates, missionaries, Christian educators, and retired clergy to name just a few.
Income from endowments helps support the establishment of new Cumberland Presbyterian churches at home and abroad and the endowment corpus helps to provide loans for the construction of buildings for new and long-established congregations.
Through endowments, witness to the good news concerning Christ is proclaimed on four continents, the record of that witness preserved in the General Assembly's archives, the work of Sunday schools strengthened, and the ministries of all General Assembly agencies undergirded.
In 1836, the General Assembly first elected trustees to hold property left by bequest 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 to provide a financial foundation for the work of the Church.
Today, the Board of Stewardship, Foundation and Benefits, as the successor of that Board of Trustees, continues their pioneering work, and seeks through the Endowment Program to provide a firm financial foundation for the life and ministry of congregations, presbyteries, synods, and the General Assembly and its agencies.
The members of the Board of Directors (Staff, Board of Stewardship Members) represent deep dedication tot he cause of Christ through the ministries of the congregations and General Assembly agencies of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. They provide, in addition, their personal expertise in corporate management, law, business, education, ministry, public health, insurance, accounting and investments.
An endowment represents the gift of a portion of a person's life to be used forever in keeping the light of Christ alive i the world. It is an asset given in trust to your church for permanent management, from which only the income can be used for mission and ministry.
Each of us has some understanding of the use of gifts of time, talent and material things to honor God. However, our understanding of stewardship is enhanced when we make such gifts thoughtfully and with clear purpose. Just as we find opportunity to make such thoughtful, purposeful gifts from monthly income, we can give proportionately from our accumulated assets to endow our church. Such giving for endowments may take the form of: money or property, bequests in a last will and testament, gift annuities through which the donors and other designated persons receive lifetime income, life insurance, revocable trusts, and the combined gifts of many people.
The Endowment Program encourages this enhanced understanding of stewardship through
promoting gifts to establish and/or increase endowments benefitting all areas of church life,
providing counsel and support for churches in setting up policies and precedures for congregationl endowment programs for the long-term support of their ministries,
investing in the future of Cumberland Presbyterian congregations through loans for new churches and expansion of facilities for established churches, and
employing and evaluating the performance of professional managers who invest assets in fixed income securities and equities.
HOME FOUNDATION ENDOWMENTS For more information, contact Richard Magrill Page updated on May 1, 2007 Pages maintained by Elinor Swindle Brown