Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

The assets of the Church are simply tools for mission. Thusly, when we are called to steward endowed funds, it is a core call to mission. And we must begin to discern how we can make best use of these assets for the good of God’s people and His glory. In times of congregational transition, such as when the next rector is called, new vestry members are elected, or fresh committee composition, there is an opportunity to engage these fundamental ideals for ministry. This process must begin with an understanding of the historical source of the funds, how they have evolved, and the relationships involved.

I offer this preliminary set of questions for your inquiry:

• How was the endowment created?
• Are there any gift restrictions?
• How have individual donor and family relations been stewarded?
• How has the endowment evolved? How is it invested and how are those decisions made?
• Is there a spending rule? What is the history and practice of endowment spending?
• How does the endowment support ministry? How does it support congregational mission and vision?
• What does parish leadership know and understand about the endowment? How are they regularly informed? What about the parish at large?
• What are the prevailing attitudes and culture around the endowment?
• Do we continue to offer prayerful thanksgiving for these funds?
• Are we operating from a place of abundance?
• Are we doing our best, remembering the “account that we must one day give?” (BCP 259)

Theologian Walter Bruggermann wrote that “the gospel story of abundance asserts that we originated in the magnificent, inexplicable love of a God who loved the world into generous being…and…What we know about our beginnings and our endings, then, creates a different kind of present tense for us. We can live according to an ethic whereby we are not driven, controlled, anxious, frantic or greedy, precisely because we are sufficiently at home and at peace to care about others as we have been cared for.” As we strive to truly use the assets of the Church as tools for ministry, may we be guided by gospel abundance and affirm the generosity from which these blessings flow.