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Para ayuda en espaņol, por favor
llame al (800) 668-8016 y pida
hablar con Enrique.
Marilyn Fiddmont promoted to Vice President;
West Zone divided into 2 sections
The Rev. Marilyn Fiddmont, a member of the Christian Church Foundation 
staff since 2001, has been promoted to vice president of the Foundation’s newly created Southwest Zone.
As vice president of the Southwest Zone, she will work with donors and congregations in New Mexico, Arizona and areas served by the Pacific Southwest Region. She previously was an assistant vice president working in Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana.
Her promotion comes as the Foundation divides its West Zone into two new 
zones: Southwest and Mountain West. Rev. Don Sarton will continue to serve as vice president of the Mountain West Zone, which includes Colorado, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and the areas served by the Northern-California Region.
There will be a period of overlap as Sarton and Fiddmont together work the new Southwest Zone, Kidwell said.
To read more, including a recap of the Foundation's Board of Directors' meeting, click here.
The Foundation's 2009 Financial Statement has been issued by auditors BKD. To view the Financial Statement as a PDF, click here.
Church leader Spencer Austin dies; helped create Christian Church Foundation
Rev. Dr. Spencer P. Austin, respected church leader whose work in the late 1950s and early 1960s led to the creation of the Christian Church Foundation, died April 21. He was 100.
Dr. Austin was in charge of Unified Promotion -- one of the forerunners of Disciples Mission Fund -- when he and other church leaders decided it was important for the Christian Church to have its own Foundation to support ministry through permanent funds and to help members leave estate gifts to the church.
“From the very beginning, we recognized that if the Foundation was to have integrity, if it was to ever catch on in brotherhood life, it had to represent the totality of the church,” Dr. Austin said in a 1995 interview. “And any donor could make a permanent gift that would finance all or any units of the church.”
An ordained minister, Dr. Austin served as a congregational pastor in Oklahoma and Massachusetts before answering the call to general ministry, where he was a leader in evangelism and church finances.
Dr. Austin is survived by his wife, Kathleen "Kitty" Havens Austin, seven children, 17 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 11, in Downey Avenue Christian Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the “Spencer P. Austin Century Fund for Week of Compassion,” in care of the Christian Church Foundation, P.O. Box 1986, Indianapolis, IN 46206-1986.
To view Dr. Austin's obituary, as provided by the family, click here.
Foundation distributes $5.8 million from permanent funds in 2009
The Christian Church Foundation distributed $5.8 million for ministry from permanent funds and other donor-directed gifts in 2009. Nearly $950,000 of that was directed to Disciples Mission Fund, the general mission funding system for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Donors who create a permanent fund at the Foundation direct annual distributions to the charitable causes of their choosing.
Distributions in 2009 were down from the previous year, due primarily to fewer donor-directed and donor-advised gifts, coupled with the economic recession that reduced the permanent funds’ market values and distributions.
Despite the economic recession, Disciples contributed $7.4 million to permanent funds in 2009.
The Rev. Gary W. Kidwell, president of the Christian Church Foundation, said the $7.4 million funneled into permanent funds held in trust at the Foundation is the largest amount in a single year since 1989. In that year, the Foundation received $8 million as a testamentary gift from Othel and DeWitt Brown. At the time the Browns’ gift was received, it was the largest single estate gift ever to a Protestant denomination.
“Disciples ministries will be forever impacted by these gifts,” Kidwell said. “Even in undertain economic times, people of faith look to the future with hope and make important decisions to support Christian ministry and witness.”
To view the full press release about 2009 distributions and the Foundation's financial situation, click here.
The Foundation's 2009 Financial Statement has been issued by auditors BKD. To view the Financial Statement as a PDF, click here.
Promote Planned Giving in Your Church with
New Series of Newsletter Articles
Your congregation can promote opportunities for charitable bequests and other planned gifts by incorporating some newly developed articles in your church newsletter. The articles are available in Word format for editing, or as a PDF.
Used throughout the year, these articles can help educate your congregation's members to the need to have an estate plan -- and how charitable gifts made through an estate plan can provide a wonderful legacy of Christian witness.
To download the Word document, click here.
To download the articles as a PDF, click here.
Additional publications and materials related to planned giving can be found on our Resources page, or by clicking here.
Revised Church Treasurer's Handbook Available
The 2009 edition of the Church Treasurer's Handbook is now available online as a PDF. This handbook, prepared by general ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), provides assistance in the day-to-day management of church finances, including the counting, the record-keeping, the banking and the distribution -- often the jobs of the church’s treasurer and financial secretary. To view and download the PDF version, click here.
Checklist for Permanent Fund Trustees
Being responsible for a congregation's permanent fund is an important task. And with trustees often serving staggered terms, it is important that the knowledge and responsibilities are constantly shared and understood to maintain the integrity of the fund. The Foundation staff members have prepared a "Trustee's Checklist" that your congregational leaders may use. To view and download the PDF version, click here.
Managing Estate Gifts
Gifts from donors’ estates are a special blessing. These gifts, received from the saints of our congregations, are often their final testimony that the church is called to stretch and serve many future generations. What a great gift this testimony can be to all of us!. In all of the work that we do, however, one paramount consideration deserves special focus: We must make it a priority to understand and to honor any donor restrictions on gifts made to the church.
The Christian Church Foundation is providing a new resource to congregations to help them better understand their role as stewards of these gifts. Click here to download a copy, or to order several for your congregation's financial leaders and trustees, call us at (800) 668-8016.
