Foundation Manages $86 Million, Supports Ministry, Scholarships
News
Churches often receive gifts from donors in the form of stocks and are unfamiliar with the process of converting them to cash. The Foundation serves local churches and agencies in Missouri by converting those stock gifts to cash on their behalf, relieving them of the burden of navigating an investment system with which they are unfamiliar. The Foundation also offers a number of savings and investment vehicles for churches and agencies that wish to invest funds on a long-term but not permanent basis. Additionally, the Foundation offers a variety of workshops and printed materials designed for local churches who wish to provide savings and investment education for their members.
In addition to its investment services, the Foundation also manages several very popular grant and scholarship programs created to support individuals and churches throughout the Conference. The Ministry Grant program currently holds $2.8 million in assets, which are used to provide grants to churches in the Conference. Program application deadlines are April 1 and October 1 each year, and churches are free to request a grant to help fund any ministry initiatives they wish to undertake but are unable to fund without outside assistance. The church is asked to describe the ministry initiative and outline its plan to fund it, specifying the assistance requested. Grants are reviewed and awarded twice each year.
The Foundation manages several scholarship programs that provide assistance to both undergraduate and seminary students. Dollars for Scholars is a relatively new program that allows a student to receive as much as $4,000 in assistance from the student’s local church, UMHEF, St. Paul School of Theology, and The Foundation. Other scholarship initiatives include programs funded by The Stella Kahrs and Boone & Nadine Ingels Funds for Seminary Scholarships. Currently, 16 students are under scholarship with Asbury Theological Seminary, Candler School of Theology, Duke Divinity School, Eden Theological Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, Iliff School of Theology, Perkins School of Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary, and St. Paul School of Theology.
The Missouri UM Foundation was created in 1967 with a few seed gifts (acorns) and has grown over the last 49 years to an investment organization managing in excess of $86 million (a stately tree) all for the support of United Methodist churches and agencies in Missouri. The Foundation and its staff stand ready to serve you and your local church in any way you might find helpful.