Our commitment to the 8th Principle offers a new question for the endowment. What does it mean to be a congregation with an endowment and a commitment to building the Beloved Community? 

Our relationship to the endowment has already changed over time. For a number of years the congregation let the endowment grow with the understanding that it existed as seed money for building a Fellowship Hall and for emergency expenses. As we became more aware of our responsibilities the endowment was moved to ESG funds (environmental, social, and governance investing). In the last few years, as we try to live our values in relation to staff salaries we approved drawing on the endowment for the operating budget.

Discussions held over the fall and winter were designed to discover if the congregation would support using the endowment to increase our work for racial justice/social justice in the larger community.  It quickly became apparent that the discussions would also have to address using the endowment for the operating budget and long term needs.

More than thirty people brought a range of concerns and hopes for the endowment, but five common threads emerged. Each is worthy of more study and discussion throughout the congregation. None excludes the others. 

• There is interest in using the endowment to further our work in racial justice/social justice. 
• We need a policy defining how the endowment can or will be used to support the operating budget.
• Our values call us to care for the building and grounds. 
• We need a Strategic Plan to offer a vision for the future of the congregation. 
• We need strategies to replenish the endowment. 

Proposals to foster more thinking will come before the congregation at the Asking Budget meeting on February 19th, with the goal of involving everyone in the continuing conversation.