Perpetual
Fund
Wesley United Methodist Church
History
The Margaret Martin estate was received on October 17, 1994, by the Wesley United Methodist Church Board of Trustees, who accepted the bequest and placed it with the Oklahoma United Methodist Foundation.
The Margaret Martin estate, given to Wesley United Methodist Church as an undesignated gift, is known as the "Wesley United Methodist Church of Shawnee, Oklahoma, Perpetual Fund". This investment includes the initial gift plus other monies since October 17, 1994.
On July 17, 2005, a called church conference voted to put the Principal Account of the Perpetual Fund into a permanent endowment. The principal is known as the "Perpetual Endowment." The 10 Governing Articles for the Perpetual Fund were re-done and renamed the "Perpetual Fund Distribution Plan," the amendable instruction on where the endowment distribution will go for church use. Also, all Wesley endowments were placed under the purview of the Permanent Endowment Funds Committee.
On August 20, 2005, Jane Edwards passed away, providing for a majority of her assets to flow into a Jane Edwards Endowment Fund, which had been created in advance with a gift annuity she had structured with the Oklahoma United Methodist Foundation in June, 2003. It is separate from the Perpetual Endowment, but provides for 5% APR quarterly distributions to flow to the Perpetual Fund Distribution Plan, as well as the disribution from the Perpetual Endowment.
The Perpetual Fund is also the receiver of other designated and undesignated gifts and contributions made from time to time by living or testamentary gifts, devises, bequests and insurance.