“The overall purpose of the Committee is to encourage planned gifts to the church, build endowment, and extend the church's mission to all the world.”

Among the tasks of the Committee are the following: work with the Council in its strategic planning process to identify funding/program priorities for mission extension;

The Committee shall have the discretion to distribute any portion, or all, of the current available earned income. This earned income from the Fund shall be distributed annually and at such times as deemed necessary and/or feasible to accomplish the following purposes:

  • outreach to our youth and community youth,
  • outreach to adults and seniors, capital improvements,
  • debt reduction or a building program of First Lutheran Church,
  • campus ministry,
  • social ministries,
  • music and education,
  • trial programs for start-up ministries (2016),
  • international ministry or ministry activities through efforts validated by the ELCA (2016).

To that end, the Endowment Committee has been asked and has funded numerous requests over the years from various ministries including:

  • Providing scholarships for graduating high school seniors,
  • Textbooks for Tanzanian high school students,
  • The video production ministry,
  • The Children’s Choir,
  • Buying portable DVD players for the homebound,
  • Vicar/intern grant program,
  • Building projects, including the canopy construction,
  • Funding for numerous other ministries.

This committee shall receive and hold in safe keeping all assets of the Endowment Fund, carry out authorized disbursements from the fund, and keep records of all receipts and disbursements by and from the fund.