| Endowment Fund offering enables vital ministries By Erik AlsgaardUMConnection Staff Churches in the Baltimore-Washington Conference have the opportunity April 27 to give a little bit of themselves to help themselves. The Annual Endowment Fund Sunday wi ll be celebrated that day. According to Ann Whisenhunt, chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the conference Endowment Fund, it is an opportunity for local congregations to provide seed money for loans, grants, mission and ministry in the conference. The more money that local churches contribute to the fund, the more money there is available in the pool to loan or grant back to congregations in the conference, she said. Created in 1992 with proceeds from a capital funds campaign, there is currently $1.8 million in the endowment fund. Interest money from the fund is used for grants and loans. Information goes out to each local church about the special Sunday, Whisenhunt said, sent to the pastor and the chairperson of the stewardship group. This is the only way we have to raise funds other than through individual gifts, she said. We have quite a few donors who have been giving for the past 10 years, and theyve been very faithful and loyal. What we really need to do is increase the number of donors, and without help from the local churches, theres no way we can do that. Due to a recent decline in the number of participating churches, Whisenhunt is stressing the need for all to give. In 2002, endowment fund officials reported 20 church gifts totaling $15,035. Forty-five individuals gave $8,723. In 2001, 23 church gifts were received, and in 2000, 32 churches contributed. Whisenhunt said there are 703 churches in the conference. Local churches are being invited to take a special offering April 27. A new brochure is available for distribution during worship that Sunday and before, but must be ordered by calling Tonia Bennet at (410) 309-3480 or by e-mail at
. We have a group of 10 people who serve on the Loans and Grants Committee, she said. The Rev. Ed DeLong, associate council director for the Board of Congregational Life, and the Rev. Jim Knowles-Tuell, conference treasurer, are on the committee. Its been a very, very successful partnership between those two groups. Weve been doing it for 10 years now, and we just feel that its done so much good. This past year, for the first time, the fund has made three-year grants available because DeLong felt that it was difficult to get the work done in 12 months, particularly with new church starts. Churches have to re-apply for the grants every year. A recent example of how the fund works was Westminster UMC, Whisenhunt said, which had a roof collapse. We gave them a $100,000 emergency loan to fix the roof, she said, and the church paid it back very quickly. Whisenhunt is excited about the good work the fund enables churches to do. This is something I feel strongly about because its doing so much good. I just wish many more people could sit in on these loans and grants meetings because you have to help these churches; they need help. | 
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