Legacy – Endowment Funds

Introduction

St. John's United Methodist Church is not just a building on Backlick Road, rather it is the beating heart in the middle of an ever-changing community. It is a sanctuary where people serve the needs of others. In its seventh decade, St. John's hosts the Center for Early Childhood Education (CECE), a wonderful pre-school that has served generations of young children and families. St. John's also provides support to the Northern Virginia community through participation with local schools (e.g., Lynbrook Elementary), food banks, domestic abuse shelters, foster families and prison recovery needs.

Participation in the St. John's legacy program will allow St. John's to continue to be the "beating heart" of our community. Legacy giving is key to the continuity of the church and its ministries. As one enters their twilight years, one's legacy is usually given greater thought and consideration. Legacy giving allows you to leave your 'imprint on' and 'support to' St. John's church and its mission ministries after your call to glory.

Should, following discussions with your family, you decide to allocate a portion of your legacy to St. John's UMC, the following three avenues are available to accommodate that wish.

The Endowment Funds

  • Steirs' Endowment Fund: The Stiers' Endowment Fund was established many years ago in the name of educator Walter Stiers to provide scholarships to nominated graduates of St John's congregation.
  • St. John’s Fund: The St. John's Fund supports various newly established St. John's missions and ministries.
  • St John's Maintenance, Repair, Replacement and Upgrade Fund: The St John's Maintenance, Repair, Replacement and Upgrade Fund will be directed towards specific facility improvement, replacement, and maintenance projects. Having a robust endowment fund in this area is especially important to address the needs of St. John's aging facilities and grounds.

Please note that while donations to these funds will be welcomed during any stage of one's life, the vast majority of donations to these funds will be the result of estate planning provisions that bequeath certain assets to one of the Endowment Funds noted above. As such, donations to endowment funds will not be competing with our weekly donations to fund St John’s current expenses. Rather our donations to fund St John's current budgeted items are based upon our here-and-now giving, while Endowment funding will stem from, if you will, our hereafter giving

How does it work

The assets of all three of these funds are held and managed by the Virginia United Methodist Foundation. Donations can be made directly by you to the Virginia United Methodist Foundation in which you identify the specific St. John’s endowment fund that is the recipient of your donation. Another option is that you can donate the funds directly to St. John's in which you identify the specific St. John's endowment fund that is the recipient of your donation.

Once the donations are allocated to the endowment funds, each endowment fund is managed by the Virginia United Methodist Foundation investment specialists. Over time the assets in these funds will grow/appreciate. The money withdrawn from these endowment funds to pay for Steir's scholarships, Mission or Ministry activities, or Building and Improvement projects are not the growth/appreciation of the fund; Rather it is just the interest and dividends generated by these funds. For example, let us say that the St. John's Maintenance, Repair, Replacement and Upgrade Fund begins the year with a $150,000 balance. Over the year it generates Interest/Dividend Income of $2,500 and capital gains of $15,000 and fees of $1,000. Accordingly, the year-end balance is $166,500 ($150,000+$2,500+$15,000-$1,000). Under this scenario only $2,500 will be available to pay for Maintenance, Repair, Replacement and Upgrade expenses. The remaining $164,000 is left untouched to continue growing and compounding over time. As this example demonstrates, gifts are required to be substantial for the endowment funds to prosper and be successful.

Summary

These legacy St. John's endowment funds accomplish two goals. They allow you to continue to support St. John's even after your passing. They also allow St. John's to continue to prosper and meet its vision of Bringing Christ to Others and Others to Christ. In general, donations to these three endowment funds come from bequeaths from your estate that would occur following your passing. They do not compete with the funds you utilize in making your regular weekly/monthly/quarterly donations to St. John's general fund.

If you wish further information on donating to St. John's endowment funds, please contact the Pastor, who will get you in touch with the Endowment Committee Chair.

The following two links provide:

  1. The documentation that established St. John's Endowment Committee and the three St. John's Endowment funds.
  2. A primer on endowments and the endowment process.