Who We Are…

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The Lovers Lane UMC Foundation is a separate 501(c)(3) organization that provides financial support for our church, its members, and the ministries of LLUMC.  This is accomplished through the faithful giving of members of our church, to be used in areas of mission & outreach, evangelism, education, benevolence, music, arts, technology, scholarships, and lecture series.  The Foundation also supports our church financially through grants to assist with facility and campus preservation.  Unlike other 501(c)(3)s of the church, the Foundation is not owned by the church, but our sole purpose is to support LLUMC and its ministries.

Bottom Line on Gifts to the Foundation

You have made the church part of your life.   The Foundation is your opportunity to make the church a part of your legacy.  

Your gifts to the Foundation are an endowment that will benefit your church in perpetuity.  The Foundation may be the only place where not one single dollar of your contribution to one of our permanent endowments will be used to fund administrative costs or overhead.  Those expenses are already covered by a separate endowment.  In fact, the Foundation may be the only place where your contribution to one of our permanent endowments will not be spent at all, not one single penny.  Unless you tell us otherwise if you contribute to one of our 45+ permanent endowment funds, your contributions will all be held in one or more of our endowment funds and only the income from your contribution will be spent, thus creating a legacy, a source of perpetual support for our church.  We use a balanced or average approach to our distributions.  We distribute every year to our church, its ministries and members 4.5 % of the 3-year average balance in each of our endowments.  Even in years when our earnings are less than 4.5%, we still distribute that same reliable 4.5%.  During years when our earnings are more than 4.5%, that excess is reserved to grow the Foundation and to accumulate retained earnings so we can distribute that same 4.5% in years when earnings are less than 4.5%.

What We Have Done

Since 1981, the Foundation has grown the stewardship of our donors through well-thought-out and controlled investments of funds.  These funds generate income which allows for perpetual giving to our Church and its ministries.  As of the end of 2022:

• The Foundation had total assets of a little more than $23.3M
• Of this $23.3 million, approximately $18.5 million was in one or more of our permanent endowments and approximately $4.5 million was in guardianship accounts.    Guardianships are investment accounts where we manage investment funds of the church, Wesley Prep, the 12th Step Ministry, and Rays of Light (to mention just a few). 
• In addition, the Lovers Lane Foundation now holds and manages those endowments previously held by the Walnut Hill UMC Foundation.  As of 12/31/2022, the Walnut Hill Sanctuary Endowment had a balance of approximately $31K and the Walnut Hill Church Main Endowment had a balance of approximately $1M.

Our endowments are held in 45+ separate Funds (or endowments) broadly benefiting: 

 

In 2022, the Foundation was able to support the Church with grants totaling more than $600,000, and we expect a similar amount in 2023.

Because you gave, the Foundation was able to:

Help church families (some with young children) avoid imminent evictions

Help a young single mom, abused by her ex-boyfriend, and in need of short-term help with child care costs in order to avoid losing custody of her children and helped other single moms in similar situations

Help an older church member with their utility bills to avert them being cut off and help two families with costs associated with immigration issues

Provided rent assistance, help with insurance costs, medical bills, utilities, and car repairs, and other emergency expenses for several families

Provide substantial funds to help the church with maintenance costs, technology needs, and support for our music programs

Upgrades to sound, video and live stream equipment in Modern Worship, Shipp Chapel, the Sanctuary and Walnut Hill Church (and assisted with HVAC upgrades at Walnut Hill Church)

Underwrote the costs of numerous Congregational Care activities (Birthday Flowers for 100-Year-Olds, 90 + Celebrations, Holiday Gift Bags for Saints, Valentine’s Day Gift Bags, All Saints Dinner and Upper Room Magazines for Older Members)

Sponsored the ArtReach Gallery, the Shepherd’s Garden, Deaf Ministries, Special Needs Ministries, Young Adult Ministries, Youth/Kids Ministries. Family Ministries, Everybody’s Christmas, the Food Ministry,  Mission Trips, Prison Ministries, Pastor and Staff Continuing Education,  and more.

5 Graduating Senior Scholarships, African Worship Community College Scholarships, 4 Kenyan College Scholarships, 2 Staff Seminary scholarships and a Performing Visual Arts Scholarship  — ALL IN 2022.

100% of the maintenance and repair costs associated with the 2022 Water Pipe Break and Flood

In addition to all the mission, benevolence, scholarship, and ministry support provided by the
Foundation to our church and summarized above, we also funded campus and facility preservation grants in 2022 totaling more the $400,000 and we expect a similar amount in 2023.

Your gifts not only sustain the mission of the Foundation, but they also contribute to the legacy of our Church and ensure our Church will be here for many years to come and for future generations. THANK YOU!

To be more specific, in 2022, your gifts helped the Foundation provide support in the following broad areas and in the approximate amounts shown below: 

Facilities	$ 426,800	Shipp Chapel Equipment	$37,000
Lecture Series	$ 34,000	Benevolence & Care	$23,200
Music & Arts	$17,500	Youth/Kids Min/Scholarships	$16,250
Modern Worship Equipment	$15,000	Everybody’s Christmas	$14,000
12 Step Ministry	$14,000	Young Adult Ministries	$12,600
Communications/Tech	$12,500	Family Ministries	$7,000
Deaf Ministries	$6,800	Prison Ministries	$2,800
Imani Kenya Ministries	$56,300