Invest in St. Philip’s Ongoing Ministry Work

At St. Philip’s Annual Meeting in January 2015, treasurer Raymond Dewey announced that a Ministry Endowment Fund to help support the ongoing work of St. Philip’s ministries had been established. This endowment fund came out of the Strategic Planning Process that was begun several years ago. After small- and large-group brainstorming and discussion, four key strategic directions were identified, one of them being to diversify funding sources beyond our annual pledge campaign, formally titled Expanding Our Funding Sources.

In an endowment, money is designated to to be used for the ongoing support of an organization, usually by keeping the principal intact while the investment income is available for use. In our case, the Ministry Endowment Fund is designed to accept donations and bequests to enable St. Philip’s to develop its ministries beyond that possible through our annual operating funds. Donors may give to support ministry in general or may specify the specific ministries: “Liturgy & Music,” “Outreach & Evangelism,” or “Christian Education & Formation.” The Fund uses endowment gifts to support the ministry (as opposed to the physical structures and grounds) of St. Philip’s. Our Preservation and Endowment (P&E) Foundation is a separate non-profit corporation which has for many years used distributions from its investment fund to support our facilities and grounds. The two funds are complementary in mission and purpose.

To establish the Ministry Endowment Fund, a Ministry Endowment Committee was created: Sally Larsen (chair), Jim Prescott-Smith (secretary), Bob Couch, James Humphreys, and Barbara Peck. The committee worked with the Episcopal Church Foundation and St. Philip’s Chancellor, Mr. Richard Duffield, and initial funds came from parishioner Dede McKnight from gifts given in memory of her husband, Bill.

Recently, an anonymous donor has committed to making a challenge grant of up to $50,000 — matching one dollar for every dollar given to St. Philip’s Ministry Endowment Fund specifically in response to this challenge by 30 May 2016. These endowment monies will support the general ministries of St. Philip’s into the future. The impact of an endowment gift can be “doubled” by taking advantage of this matching grant. No amount is too small.

For further details about the challenge grant or the Ministry Endowment Fund, please contact a member of the Ministry Endowment Committee.