2023 Board of Director’s Gifts | Iowa United Methodist Foundation

Our goal at IUMF is to be Partners in Stewardship with churches and Methodist organizations across Iowa. One way we do this is by asking our Board of Directors to vote on how to spend an annual tithe as well as any undesignated gifts made to our Friends of the Foundation account (gifts not earmarked for a specific fund). We are proud to announce the two selected recipients of this year’s Board of Director’s gifts: Simpson Youth Academy and the IUMF Student of Color Scholarship.

 

The Simpson Youth Academy is an educational program at Simpson College where high school juniors and seniors gather and explore the Christian faith. Through worship, service and reflection, the academy helps students grow their faith and prepare for college. One 2022 participant said, “At Simpson Youth Academy I found my faith again. I feel like I’ve outgrown my church, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to be faithful anymore. SYA provided a space for me to explore my faith and now I feel stronger in my faith than I ever have before.” Another said, “The representation of people of color at SYA was most important to me. As a racially-mixed person, I saw people in the sessions that looked like me, that I knew would be able to find comfort in shared experiences with. It’s always been hard to find biracial people in churches I have gone to because there is a lot of racial divisions in church, and SYA completely eliminated that divide.” These powerful words and the success stories that come from the academy are some of the reasons the Foundation is proud to support Simpson Youth Academy with a 2023 Board of Directors gift.

 

The IUMF Student of Color Scholarship was created partially in response to a bomb threat made toward a historically black United Methodist Church in Des Moines in early 2022; and partially in solidarity with the General Commission on Religion and Race’s mission of dismantling racism by championing diversity, equity and inclusion. The Book of Discipline states, “The United Methodist Church shall confront and seek to eliminate racism, whether in organizations or in individuals, in every facet of its life and in society at large.” One way we can do this is to help ensure people of all races have access to the same resources, including scholarships. We are proud to award this scholarship with a 2023 Board of Directors gift in the hopes of growing this fund and making it truly impactful for the students who receive it.

 

You can donate to Friends of the Foundation by visiting our online GIVE page. If you want to give directly to one of these causes or another ministry close to your heart, just type the recipient in the comment box. We are happy to pass on gifts to any non-profit organization of your choice! Contact us at [email protected] or 515-974-8927 with questions.