2022 Annual Report & 1st Quarter 2023
In 2022 the Foundation celebrated the launch of a new grant cycle and awarded the first “So That the World May Know Jesus” Fox Global Evangelism Grant. Innovation grants are equipping gospel leaders and laity to invite others to the Christian Journey! As we look toward our 75th year, we embraced the God-Sized Vision to equip disciples to share the Good News of Jesus Christ!
Thank you for your support.
Executive Update
Jane Boatwright Wood
President
A God-Sized Vision – 74 Years and Counting!
The purpose of a catalyst is to be an agent of change. We knew this when the Foundation embraced the vision to be the catalyst to equip disciples to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Then we intentionally defined, refined, and expanded the ways we engage our grants and human resources to equip Christian leaders across the Wesleyan tradition with that vision in mind. The Foundation has decades of experience and expertise, but we’ve challenged ourselves to do more.
Evangelism is about God’s love for us through Jesus. Following His teachings and the example of John and Charles Wesley, we know that love knows no bounds. As an organization formed solely to “diffuse the blessing of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,” we had to have a God-sized vision.
These stories and hundreds more tell the impact of a holistic approach to sharing the Gospel, focusing on God’s desire that all should have life and have it abundantly. It is a gift freely given, but once accepted it carries the expectation that we – every day and in every way – make sure everyone knows the gift is available to them.
That’s what we do at the Foundation. Every day and in every way, we equip Christian followers to tell the world about the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. That’s something worth celebrating!
Gaye Nell Heck
Board Chair
Our Present Honors Our Past
The Foundation for Evangelism has built on the work of those who came before us for close to three-fourths of a century. We have inherited a rich history of evangelistic ministry that spans the globe. In our 74th years, we honor that past through grants that continue our founders’ dreams:
We Raise Up Gospel Leaders, enlisting instructors who can translate theological ideas to inspire the practice of Wesleyan expressions of evangelism. Innovation grants equip evangelistic leaders to minister in an ever-changing landscape.
We’ve partnered with United Theological Seminary’s Fresh Expressions House of Study to support lay training in this innovative form of church. We are hosting a Laity Summit this month to hear about challenges, dreams, and needs so we can develop future grants to further Engage the Ministry of the Laity in the Wesleyan tradition.
For the second year in a row, we are Equipping the Local Church through grants that help recipients invite members of their community to enter a life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ, grow in grace, and live out their faith by loving and serving God and neighbor.
As we build relationships across Wesleyan-tradition denominations, our vision remains to be a catalyst to equip disciples to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Grant Impact
2022 Local Church Grants Inspire Community Outreach
The Foundation for Evangelism held its inaugural Equipping the Local Church Grant cycle in January 2022. Grants were awarded in June to 31 small-medium churches or groups of small congregations working together. Many congregations, like the two that follow, used the grant for community outreach and evangelism.
Grant Supports Ministry with Youth in Estonia
'So That the World May Know Jesus' Fox Global Evangelism Grant
A summer and winter camp saw over 50 young people, and two new youth ministries have been formed in just the last year since The Methodist Church in Estonia received the ‘So That the World May Know Jesus’ Fox Global Evangelism Grant. District Superintendent Rev. Robert Tserenkov sent an update about the wonderful work being done through the church in the largely secular country.
Minister's Forum Experience Affirms Foundation's Essential Work
Story by Terri Farmer
It was my first time attending a Minister’s Forum hosted by Southern Nazarene University’s Toler Institute. At the 2022 gathering, I greeted folks visiting the Foundation’s booth who were interested in who we are and what we do. We were in the midst of our first Equipping the Local Church grant cycle, and several of our grant recipients were in attendance at the event.
I expected that grant recipients might stop by and visit our booth, but I never could have imagined the blessing I received from speaking with one particular grant recipient.
Grant Supports Laity in Innovative Evangelistic Ministry
Fresh Expressions of Worship may be familiar to you. It’s a form of church for our changing culture, primarily for those who are not yet part of any church. Usually tied to an existing church, they are held in places relevant to the lives of the people who are a part of them. Places like coffee shops, community centers, breweries, and, yes, even tattoo parlors.
But how do you prepare leaders for this innovative type of ministry? The Foundation for Evangelism saw potential in the Fresh Expressions House of Study at United Theological Seminary as it was developing in 2020
Remembering Dr. Charles Kinder, President Emeritus
Dr. Charles Kinder passed away on July 14, 2022. A minister in the Florida Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, he accepted the appointment of President of The Foundation for Evangelism in Nashville, Tenn., from 1979-1989. Dr. Kinder brought awareness about the Foundation’s work and helped secure funding to launch and endow the E. Stanley Jones Professors of Evangelism. He began the Harry Denman Evangelism Awards, and his visionary leadership ensured that all pastors ordained in The United Methodist Church would have an understanding of and training for a Wesleyan way of evangelism.
2022-23 Board of Trustees
Neil Alexander – Nashville, TN
Guy Ames III – Tulsa, OK
Ross Barrett – Bossier City, LA
Allen Black – Columbia, TN
Eston Brinkley – Wilmington, NC
Mark Brinkley – Olathe, KS
Katherine Cosner – Bremerton, WA
L. Wesley de Souza** – Atlanta, GA
Brian Hammons – Stockton, MO
Gaye Nell Heck – Atlanta, GA
Dan Henry – Bolingbrook, IL
William Hutchinson – Reno, NV
Phil Jamieson** – Jackson, TN
Harry Lyness – West Harrison, IN
Robert Miller* – Fort Smith, AR
Barbi Moore – Oklahoma City, OK
Darryl Starnes – Huntersville, NC
Debi Nixon – Leawood, KS
Michael Yang – Englewood Cliffs, NJ