Endowment Fund Committee Input Session Summary

The Endowment Fund Committee held their constituency input session on Saturday, June 11.

Contributions to manifesting God's dream in the world were celebrated.  They included--

• Providing significant scholarship assistance to college students.  A scholarship was the impetus that allowed one student to pursue higher education.  Scholarships communicated to students that their home congregation cared about them in a significant way and inspired others to maintain their connections with communites of faith.
• Scholarships to students pursuing religious studies have supported persons entering full time ministry.
• Indivduals have experienced life-changing global encounters as they were able to undertake cross-cultural mission trips, helped by Endowment funds.
• Many existing ministries at Trinity/Pointe of Grace were begun with seed monies from the Endowment Funds including, Youth ministry interns, Stephen Ministers, Pastoral Care ministers, Outreach to Students at Pointe of Grace.

Some of the existing strengths of the Endowmwent Fund Committee that were identified included--

• The passion and excitement of the committee members
• Perseverance and follow-through
• Good information for the web page
• Careful documentation of their work so that history of gifts is recorded
• Good working relationship of the committee members

A primary area for improvement was deemed to be communication so that community members could readily understand the process of giving to the fund and applying to have projects funded.  It was acknowledged that community members in general may not be aware of the significant impact that the Endowment Fund has on the ministry at Trinity/Pointe of Grace.  The expectation is that more communication will inspire further generosity in order to multiply opportunities for ministry.

They imagined new strategies to consider moving forward, including a "wishing well" where people could offer ideas for endwoment gifts; providing assistance to people with estate planning; exploring other options for grants, including capital improvements; and partnering with mission groups.

One outcome of the session was the renewed awareness that the Endowment Fund Committee has a powerful role in catalyzing mission and ministry and that there is untapped potential here to recognized and utilized.

This information will be incorporated into the planning session to follow.