Twenty-five years ago the Second Presbyterian Church Session authorized the establishment of a fund (The Second Presbyterian Church Fund, Inc.) to receive gifts and bequests to the church from members and friends. It was a farsighted, practical move; but it never benefitted from a sustained, concentrated effort to acquaint the entire congregation with its advantages. However, a few loyal members have given to the Fund, which now totals well over a million dollars.

The Second Fund Development Committee, the members of which are listed in this brochure, seeks to bring the Second Fund out of its relative obscurity. We hope to encourage a wider participation in the fund among the church membership and beyond; to organize seminars to explain options in giving, in general and to the church in particular; and to apprise the church members of the status of the fund and its distributions.

Following are some excerpts from the fund definition statement worked up by the Development Committee:

“The stated purpose of the Fund was . . . to invest and reinvest (gifts and bequests) to create a source of income and reserve to be used at times when high inflation, unforeseen emergencies, declines in membership, etc., resulted in minimum budgeted expenses . . . exceeding revenues. Other uses of the Fund can build on, but must not replace, this primary goal. It was not intended that the income of the Fund would ever be used to diminish the responsibility of the congregation to fully support and fund the missions and programs of the church . . . Distributions from the Fund are not to be line-item sources of revenue . . . [I]t should also be understood the Session can recommend borrowing from the Fund if economic conditions warrant it . . . The directors of the Fund reserve the right to exercise their discretion as to whether to accept gifts with contingencies as to use . . . Once the principal of the Fund has grown to the two-million-dollar level, the directors of the Fund would consider recommendations from the Session on distribution for mission benevolences.”

We hope the whole congregation will join us in this new challenge, one that, if met with even a modest success, could greatly enhance the future of our church.

Contact Phil Boggs, Church ADministrator, for more information about the Second Fund.