Foundation

Giving is Foundational

By Laurie Winslow

Every year the church invites us to recall our blessings and come forward on Commitment Sunday to make a financial pledge. This annual passage is one way we can show our appreciation to God and support the church.

But there is another way to leave a legacy.

The First Presbyterian Foundation, established in 1962, oversees five endowment funds that support the church’s various missions and activities, including worship, study, fellowship, service, and stewardship.

Al Bush, a longtime church member and trustee of the Foundation, sees his gift to the Foundation as an investment in the future. But, foremost, it’s a gift to Christ.

“I give to Christ. I’m really just a manager. I’m a holder of my goods, they’re not going to go with me. I’m a custodian of sorts, so I’m trying to make what I have grow,” Al says. “I’m recognizing the Creator. It’s not a debt; it’s my expression of love and wanting to be part of a bigger world.”

The church is extremely important to Al, who has served as elder, deacon, and trustee multiple times over the years. He first learned about First Presbyterian in 1957, shortly after moving here from Des Moines, Iowa. While playing handball one day at the Tulsa Club, Al met the Rev. Bryant Kirkland, who invited him to visit First Presbyterian. The rest is history.

Giving to the Foundation, for Al and others, is an important part of stewardship and necessary to ensure that future generations will be able to do God’s work. Not only does it give church members an opportunity to make a difference in their lifetime, but in the lifetimes of those to come.

The Foundation’s mission is to manage the funds and grow them so that interest off the fund can be used to do God’s work. In the last five years, the Foundation has given $1.2 million to church operations. Last year, it provided $20,000 in college scholarships to 30 church members. Currently, the Foundation has approximately $11 million, with a goal of reaching $30 million by 2010.

You can give to the Foundation one of several ways, including making a cash donation, listing the Foundation in your will, or naming it as a beneficiary of your life insurance or retirement account. You also can set up gift annuity plans and trusts.

“It’s easy. People have a tendency to think that trusts and the like are very complicated, but it really isn’t,” Jim says. He encourages people who are interested in learning more to get in touch with any of the Foundation’s trustees, who can help direct them and provide options.

Sometimes a chance comes along that enables a person to do one big thing for the church. For Al, that chance came back in 1994 when he sold a company, Crop Production Services Inc., and used some of the proceeds to set up a charitable remainder trust. Not only does it provide a tax benefit, but the church benefits hugely.

“I like to believe that it solidifies my commitment. I want to believe that God smiles at me a little bit,” Al says.

To learn more, call Steve Caldwell the church’s director of operations, at 584-4701, ext. 241.