Baptist Foundation of South Carolina

Nathan McCarthy, President

So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him, being rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude. Colossians 2:6-7 CSB

The Baptist Foundation of South Carolina completed 70 years of ministry in 2020! Over these years, we have been blessed to encounter people every day whose hearts overflow with gratitude. Thankful people are blessed people who bless others. Our ministry work is all about building relationships with God’s people through teaching about biblical stewardship and providing resources for generous givers. We help people with Christian legacy planning of estate and other gifts, we administer gifts and trusts, and we help churches and ministries invest their funds in a God-honoring way. We live in a generation in which Christians have accumulated more lifetime blessings than at any other time in history. However, many people simply do not know ways they can use those blessings to impact ministry. We help churches develop their understanding of generous giving so God’s people can have the opportunity to impact ministry in ways they may never have dreamed. It is exciting to see generosity from faithful people that results in gratitude to God!

Major accomplishments of the Baptist Foundation of South Carolina this year include: ▪ Consolidated our existing investment choices into three blended funds that focus on three key areas: strategy, simplicity, and biblical application o Kingdom Fund – focus on endowments and long-term investments targeted for growth o Harvest Fund – focus on trusts and investments requiring growth and income o Storehouse Fund – focus on short-term investments to produce income greater than traditional savings or CDs These funds have been very well received by our institutional and church leaders. They are built on solid strategic principles and they are simple to understand. ▪ Focused on actively engaging in investments that please God and honor others. Not only does the Foundation screen out investments such as alcohol, tobacco, abortion, and pornography, but we actively seek to invest in high-quality, solid investments that support Kingdom initiatives! ▪ Provided counsel and training to church finance and stewardship leadership to help them understand investment principles. ▪ Continued to assist ministries (churches and associations) with online giving platforms to include custom pages and monthly support to help promote generosity through an online platform. Since March 2020, we have assisted 69 churches with this service. ▪ Developed more resources to teach and facilitate generosity through legacy and other planned gifts.

▪ Through Christian estate planning services, provided customized estate planning for families or individuals who desire to leave a portion of their estates to Kingdom ministries.

To date, more than 225 families have completed estate plans with anticipated future gifts of over $75 million primarily for Baptist ministries. ▪ During our fiscal year ending 12/31/2020, distributed over $3.4 million primarily to

Baptist ministries through endowment and investment income, the eighth consecutive year of distributions over $3 million. Since its inception, the Foundation has distributed over $87 million to Kingdom ministries—from churches in South Carolina to missions projects around the world. ▪ Continued to tithe our own ministry resources to provide grants to help fund evangelistic projects. In 2020, grants of almost $84,000 were awarded. Since the program began in 2002, endowed gifts and the Foundation’s tithe have resulted in almost $1,200,000 in ministry grants. ▪ Since 2016, the Foundation has operated with noCooperative Program financial assistance.

Our goal is to efficiently manage and invest Foundation dollars to meet needs so other ministries may benefit from Cooperative Program dollars. The Foundation has distributed to ministries a return of $9.04 for every Cooperative Program dollar we have received in our 70-year history. ▪ As of July 31, 2021, the Foundation manages over $166.5 million in assets for the benefit of churches, associations, and Baptist institutions across our state, nation, and world.

The Foundation’s future goals focus on ways to engage churches and ministries in a Great Commission funding mindset using resources today and tomorrow. We are also seeking to partner with churches through other avenues of business to include church lending.

Prayer Requests

▪ Guidance towards godly business-minded men and women to serve alongside us on our staff and Board; ▪ Humility to listen and seek understanding to effectively serve churches; and ▪ Yearning in the hearts of God’s people to fulfill HIS Great Commission! Our prayer is that the faithful will continue to be strengthened in the days ahead as they walk closely with our Lord and that gratitude will abound so that Kingdom ministries can thrive even in a future that sometimes seems uncertain. We are grateful to serve the giver and we are grateful to serve the ministries that benefit from generous giving!