Giving and Leadership Legacies Celebrated at Christian Church Foundation Board Meeting

INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 15, 2024. Legacies born of giving and leadership were at the heart of two celebrations during the Christian Church Foundation, Inc.’s (Foundation) Board of Directors meeting in Grapevine, TX, November 8-10, 2024.

The Foundation Board opened its fall meeting by celebrating the Legacy Society at University Christian Church, Fort Worth (UCC). The Legacy Society recognizes “members and friends who put gift plans in place or established permanent funds” to benefit UCC’s ministries. UCC senior minister, Rev. Dr. Russ Peterman, shared how distributions from the Legacy Society’s endowment provides significant streams of income to support the congregation’s outreach, capital, and operating budgets. The Foundation partnered with UCC to establish the Legacy Society and manages its endowed gifts. The Legacy Society was formalized in 2017 with 116 members and has grown to more than 180 members today. Last year, income from UCC’s endowed gifts provided more than $700,000 for ministry. Members from Creekwood Christian Church, Grapevine, TX; First Christian Church, Granbury, TX; and First Christian Church of McKinney, TX joined the celebration.

The Board also celebrated the legacy of leadership offered by Rev. Gary Kidwell, who served the Foundation from 1998 to 2024, including September 1, 2003 to September 30, 2024 as president. During Kidwell’s tenure, $197 million in new gifts were donated to the Foundation to hold in trust to support the donors’ designated ministry. Also during Kidwell’s leadership, ministry partners invested an additional $600 million in the Joint Investment Trust (JIT); trusting the Foundation to manage and grow each partner’s resources for their future ministry.

Board chair, Rev. David Yonker, senior pastor, First Christian Church, Burlington, IA, talked about meeting Kidwell as a seminarian. He noted looking up to Kidwell as an important role model, saying to Kidwell, “I still want to be just like you. You have such a caring heart, an amazing attention to detail, and you bring out the best in everyone you are with.” Kidwell was presented the Honored Minister Pin from Pension Fund and he and his wife Judy received gifts from the Board. Looking to the Foundation’s future, Yonker concluded, “You have left the Foundation in a wonderful place, and now we carry on your legacy.”

Alongside the celebrations, the Board reviewed and discussed the donor gifts received year to date, 2024 budget forecast, due diligence meetings, and JIT investment portfolio. The Board approved the 2025 operating budget, elected Rev. Bruce Frogge, senior minister Cypress Creek Christian Church, Spring, TX, to serve an unexpired term on the Board, and elected Rev. Dr. Tamara Rodenberg, president, Higher Education and Leadership Ministries, as an Individual Trustee for the Oreon E. Scott Foundation.