(Nashville, TN – 7/12/2011) – The Christian Church Foundation celebrated its 50th anniversary Tuesday night, recognizing its growth from about $1,000 in assets in 1961 to a record $438.6 million in 2011. The event was part of the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Nashville, TN.
Retired Vice President James Oglesby, who served under all three of the Foundation’s presidents, said the Foundation’s keys to success have included integrity, transparency, excellent leadership and quality staff and Board of Directors.
“We are a financial institution so numbers are important,” Oglesby said. “The important numbers for me are how many people did we help? How much income did we produce for ministry? Last year the Foundation distributed more than $7 million. Those dollars can make an impact for good if they are spent wisely.”
President Gary W. Kidwell said the Foundation’s first leaders had big dreams. “Those early leaders expected us to achieve great things: to strive for excellence, to carry out our work as ministry, to keep a servant’s heart, and to know that—in the middle of our big dreams—God continues to call us forward.”
“Fifty years from now, I hope another Foundation president will take the time to look back over the first 100 years of the Foundation’s history and be awed by how much we’ve grown—and awed by how little we’ve changed.”
As part of the festivities, First Christian Church of North Hollywood, CA, was honored with the James P. Johnson Stewardship Award for outstanding local and global outreach and encouragement of members’ financial stewardship. The congregation is one of the denomination’s top givers to the Disciples Mission Fund and has a long history of communitywide outreach ministries.
By: Jim Cullumber, Christian Church Foundation
