By Rob Wagner, Past Chair
Deborah Waller, Chair

God made a covenant to Abraham that he and generations to follow would receive great blessings. Westminster's Endowment is a form of a generational covenant from our "Westminster ancestors" meant to bless our church well into the future.

In 2019, Westminster was faced with very difficult decisions relating to financial malfeasance from our prior business administrator. A large amount of money was owed to the IRS and the Endowment was the only viable place to borrow funds. Our pastors met with Endowment and Session representatives in December and an agreement was reached for a $1,259,000 loan with a 10-year term at 4% interest, a rate that corresponds to the percentage the Endowment gives out of its corpus each year.

In 2021, the Endowment Committee finished work on an agreement which would document this loan. Enter our new senior pastor, Jo Forrest, who arrived at our church in the middle of a pandemic and a large loan obligation! Jo considered the language with one change – the term "Loan Agreement" should be changed to "Covenant," to reflect God's presence at the foundation. Both the Endowment Committee and Session approved the document.

Our 10-year loan has been reduced to an 8-year loan due to generous gifts which prepaid part of it. With just 5 years remaining, please consider a financial gift to the church that would reduce this term even further.

Hang in there, Westminster! It is probably tempting to ask why the Endowment does not forgive the loan because the church could certainly use the extra $12,753 per month. Please remember that donations to the fund were meant to protect the long-term capital and program needs of the church. These gifts were crucial in providing a critical loan in our time of need.

The donors to the fund made a covenant between current and future generations of Westminster. We will look back proudly when the loan is paid off as we add our names to this covenant. Thank you to all Westminster members.