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Ministry and Congregation Endowment Funds

The world teaches that endowment funds or foundations are a way to build large reserves or nest eggs from which the organization can make grants. Many commercial organizations promote them because they want to manage the monies invested.

Scripture shows us a more important purpose for endowments: the increase of ministry. The biblical principle of "increase" flows consistently through the scriptures as a directive from God for His people, the Church.

God's Word consistently shows how He used the concept of endowment (a portion dedicated to the Lord) for specific purposes to accomplish His plan for the world. Several examples are:

Noah's Ark - You may not think of it as an endowment, but that is precisely what it was.

Joseph's endowment was used to save the people of God from famine and preserve the linage from which the Savior would come.

Barnabas (Son of Encouragement) - after the Acts church was established, we see Barnabas making a gift at the apostle's feet. The early Church held and managed everything in common, in an endowment, for the common good of the Church.

Another important purpose of the endowment fund is to build the confidence of members that their church has an orderly and established way to receive and distribute gifts that come from the gift plans of its people. The ministry's endowment fund helps set vision for the future by building the trust of its members that it can indeed accomplish its vision and has a system by which to manage it until the Lord comes again. Endowment funds are treasuries dedicated unto the Lord.

Finally, the endowment fund opens up the ministry of serving the members of the congregation by helping them develop the gift plan that God has placed in their heart at baptism. As God is a giving God, so we in our new creation are giving people with a desire to be generous and willing to share so that we can take hold of the life that is truly life (I Tim. 6:17-19). The LCMS Foundation calls this process "Lifetime Plan for Giving."

The LCMS Foundation's vision is "Every Christian with a Lifetime Plan for Giving" to family and all ministries of the church today, tomorrow, and forever. We hope you envision this for your congregation and ministry as well.

Download the Ministry Endowment Funding booklet for more information.

Visit the Downloadable Resources page for Transfer the Blessings materials.