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Richmond's First Baptist Church Endowment Fund PROVIDING HELP AND SUPPORT.
MINISTRIES OF THE FUND. Community Ministry The fund provides 50 percent of the annual operating budgets for the church’s Community Ministry and the Family Counseling Ministry. Community ministries include the Food Pantry, the Clothes Closet, the Shower Ministry, and Grace Fellowship, among others. Music Ministry The fund supports major capital needs such as renovation of the sanctuary organ, purchase of chapel organ and piano, and support for choir concert tours and mission trips. Recreation Ministry The fund provides support for this comprehensive ministry that provides activities and programs such as aerobic classes for adults, basketball leagues for youths and adults, volleyball, indoor soccer, physical fitness classes, and summer camps for children. Television Ministry The fund provides 65 percent of the annual operating budget for the church’s Television Ministry and purchase of major equipment. New Churches The fund supports new churches in metropolitan Richmond and Virginia, and beyond. Community Ministry Missions The fund provides support for more than a dozen ministries, particularly for those providing food and shelter. It also supports the Boy Scouts, Virginia Home for Boys & Girls, and the Virginia Home. Education and Scholarship The fund contributes to the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, the John Leland Center for Theological Studies, Virginia Union University School of Theology, and First Baptist Weekday School. It also funds numerous scholarship funds. Missions The fund supports the Richmond Baptist Association (and Camp Alkulana), Baptist General Association of Virginia (and direct funding to a number of BGAV entities), International Mission Board (for Hunger and Relief), Baptist World Alliance, mission trips for FBC youths, and mission partnership trips for FBC adults. (Click here to see a complete list of Ministry Partners supported by the FBC Endowment Fund.) General The fund provides support for church needs beyond budget capabilities, such as building infrastructure, equipment, and shuttle buses. HISTORY OF THE FUND. In his annual message in December 1910, Dr. George W. McDaniel, then pastor of Richmond’s First Baptist Church, referred to the generous gift of “two of our elderly members of moderate means” to an Endowment Fund. From that small beginning a great fund of about $20 million has grown and is now a mighty factor for the furtherance of Christ’s Kingdom and the Glory of God. Initially, a limit was placed on the size of the fund. The provision was amended in the 1930s, removing any limitation on the size of the fund or any individual gift to the fund. This made possible the acceptance of a generous gift from Mrs. Bettie Davis Wood in 1938. Since these early beginnings, the fund has grown through generous contributions and through wise and careful management and investment. In 1991, an anonymous donor contributed a very significant sum for support of the television ministry, social ministry, and hunger and relief. The First Baptist Church Endowment Fund is a separate legal entity from the church. Its purpose is to support the missions and ministries of Richmond’s First Baptist Church, including grants to the church and to other organizations to support the ministries of the Church. A board of directors (all members of Richmond’s First Baptist Church) determines the fund’s investment policy and how to distribute its resources. The amount to “spend” each year is set by multiplying by 5% the average fair market value of the investment assets over the immediate past three years. In a typical year, the fund distributes about $1 million. HOW YOU CAN PARTICIPATE. First Baptist Church seeks your contributions to the fund and its planned giving ministry in the form of gifts, bequests, other donations, or in the form of insurance policies, if you wish. Your gift can be monetary, securities, or property. Provisions may be made in your will for bequests to the fund. The proper form for such bequests is: “I give and bequeath to First Baptist Church Endowment Fund, Incorporated, Richmond, Virginia, the sum of $____________ (or other described property) to be used by the directors of the Endowment Fund for any of the purposes provided by the charter of the First Baptist Church Endowment Fund, Incorporated.” Or you may make provisions in your will for a bequest for a specific purpose. The fund will be glad to supply you with a complete listing of the causes and programs it supports. FBC Endowment Fund Board of Directors Susan S. Beach Richmond’s First Baptist Church |
