PVUMC FoundationParadise Valley United Methodist Church Igniting Faith | Transforming Lives | Creating Community

We are blessed to have a Foundation at PVUMC that helps us to look ahead and meet our future with strong financial resources.

I want to encourage you to make a gift to our Foundation!

Our church has a tremendous legacy. We have shaped the

lives of countless children through our Preschool, nurtured

faith in our children and youth and been a church with

vibrant worship, music and mission. If you have been

faithful over the years in supporting our church financially, I

would invite you to share a gift that becomes a part of our

permanent endowment fund, a gift that will help our

church to be strong as God’s future unfolds.

Your support of our Foundation will help us to respond to

changing needs and new opportunities for ministry that we

can scarcely envision now. We know the church will benefit

greatly from financial resources that allow us to address

emerging capital needs, identify new ways to reach new

people and develop innovative ministries to touch the

world around us. By helping us to look ahead, you will help

us to meet the challenges of the future and be a church

where faith is shared and grows in the lives of all who come

here. Your commitment to build a strong Foundation will

help us to build a strong future for our church, grow vitality

in our congregation and ensure that we continue to make

disciples for Jesus Christ! I invite your help. Together we

can accomplish much for God!

In Faith,

Dave Summers, PhDSenior Pastor

“You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”

– 2 Corinthians 9:11

Endowing Gifts Today for Ministries Tomorrow

The PVUMC Foundation plays a critical role in the financial

stability of PVUMC’S future ministry by supporting

important activities of Paradise Valley United Methodist

Church that are beyond the scope of the church’s annual

budget. Helping ensure the vitality of the church in the

years to come, the Foundation funds church ministries,

special programming, seminarian scholarships, capital and

building needs, and missional opportunities to reach out to

our community and world.

“PVUMC has been an important part of the Van Houten family for three generations. We want to support PVUMC so it can be there for generations to come.”

– Jim and Jeanne Kay Van Houten

Lorilee’s Story

Lorilee began attending PVUMC in 1998 and became a member

of the congregation in 2008. Three years later, she decided to

pursue her Master’s in Practical Theology, with a concentration in

Spiritual Formation. Lorilee’s financial burden was lessened with

a seminarian scholarship from the PVUMC Foundation. “The

members of the PVUMC Foundation were generous and

supportive in the pursuit of my calling,” Lorilee said.

Lorilee returned to Phoenix in 2013 and enrolled in a Doctor

of Ministry Program to study formational counseling while

simultaneously working with the city’s homeless populations.

She says, “God has called me to share what I have been given

with the residents of the UMOM New Day Centers and Watkins

Homeless Shelters. It is an amazing blessing to be of service to

God in this way.”

“The financial gift [from the PVUMC Foundation] and prayers of support were invaluable in helping me obtain my theology degree.”

– Lorilee Immel

Igniting Faith

Perhaps no single individual within a church helps ignite

the congregants’ faith more than the pastor. Being a

minister or spiritual counselor is a sacred and selfless

calling. Without loving, dedicated, passionate clerical

leaders with servant hearts, the church would surely

diminish and falter. Yet the coursework required for a

career in the ministry can often leave seminarians with tens

of thousands of dollars of debt—only to prepare them for a

profession that pays a modest salary. While they

don’t go into the ministry for the money, the least we can

do is help them serve without overwhelming debt. For

this reason, the PVUMC Foundation provides scholarships

to Methodist seminarians.

“I wanted to share what I have learned with all of the parents at PVUMC.”

– Judy Theman

Transforming Lives

Often opportunities arise or congregants seek to offer

special programming to help transform the lives of church

members as well as members of the greater community

that the church’s annual operating budget is simply unable

to support. PVUMC Foundation funds are available to help

make the programs a reality.

Judy’s story:

When her now teenage sons were young boys, Judy began

listening to Dr. Kevin Leman, a world-renowned psychologist

and Christian author who speaks on topics such as raising

children and strengthening marriages, on the radio. Listening

to Dr. Leman and reading several of his books had a profound

effect on Judy and the life of her family.

“I started applying his principles to my own parenting and

they were easy, made sense and worked,” she said. Not only

did it transform the way she and her husband parent, but in

the process, it transformed the lives of everyone in her family.

After teaching classes based on Dr. Leman’s videos to parents

in several fellowship groups and seeing their interest in the

subject matter, Judy championed Dr. Leman’s 2014 return to

PVUMC, which was co-sponsored by the PVUMC Foundation.

Chris’ story:

Best Friends in Faith (BFFs) was created by the Caring Ministry

Team in 2014 to better include our homebound members in the

church community, even though they are unable to attend

church. The team recognized that it was easy for these

individuals to feel isolated, alone and abandoned, even after they

had given so many years of dedicated service and had been

active participants in the church for many years. Their solution

was to pair each person with a BFF—a Best Friend in Faith—to

show them that PVUMC cares for them and to keep the sense of

community alive.

Chris Midyett decided to get involved with the program

just as it was beginning, and she was retiring. After receiving

training on making a caring visit, active listening, confidentiality,

and prayer, she was paired with several PVUMC members who are

now homebound and unable to attend church. She meets at least

once a month with each of her BFFs and has developed strong

friendships with them.

“We are bringing Christ into their homes, and the relationships we’ve developed are ones of pure joy, and hope...”

Creating Community

PVUMC is blessed to have hundreds of church volunteers

bringing God’s love into action through their work on our

ministry teams. Our ministry teams play an essential role in

not only transforming lives, but also in creating community

through fellowship and service. Therefore, the PVUMC

Foundation is proud to make grants to ministry teams to

help them further the work of the church.

“...Participating in the BFF program has been so rewarding. The people I’m visiting are grateful for the visits that feed their souls and strengthen their connection with the church.”

– Chris Midyett

What Will Your Legacy Be?

The John Wesley Legacy Society was established to

recognize those who have included the Paradise Valley

United Methodist Church Foundation in their estate plans

or life insurance. Members of the society make provisions

for gifts to be left to the PVUMC Foundation. The Society

gathers annually to recognize members and the work of

the Foundation. For more information on eligibility or how

to become a member, please contact the church office.

“I included PVUMC in my estate planning for so many reasons, not the least of which was because the people there provided love and support to me and my family through their presence, prayers and notes of encouragement when we suffered a huge loss.”

– Tawn Watkins

Tawn’s story:

Tawn Watkins has been a part of PVUMC since 1984, and was a

member of the staff at the church for much of that time. Currently,

she is involved with Stephen Ministry, women’s retreats, and the

Healing Prayer Team. She also stepped up to help lead the

Saguaros, a group of older, active adults who get together once a

month for lunch, entertainment and sometimes an outing. Tawn

says that PVUMC is part of her estate plan for many reasons. In

addition to helping her and her family during a time of devastating

loss, she has had life-changing experiences attending the yearly

women’s retreats and weekly Bible studies with her friends. She is

good friends with Lorilee Immel, who felt a call to ministry, and

was thrilled to see Lorilee be able to fulfill her dream through

financial support she received from the PVUMC Foundation.

“Those in leadership sent resources to students, like Lorilee, who

wanted to attend seminary. Without help, they would have been

unable to fulfill ‘the call’ they felt so deeply,” Tawn said.

“When the children sing of their love for God as a part of the

children’s choir, and at camp Mingus and Vacation Bible Camp,

and when the youth return from mission trips and share their

experiences, we see how their lives have been changed for the

better, filled with joy and purpose,” she said. Tawn recently went

to Costa Rica on one of the church’s annual international mission

trips, and said, “When our adults use their own financial resources,

time and energy to travel to places across the world to help ‘the

least of these,’ they show God’s love in action.”

John Wesley said, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you

can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the

times you can, to all the people you can as long as you ever can.”

PVUMC is a place where his works are lived out, every day.

“The most obvious lesson in Christ’s teaching is that there is no happiness in having or getting anything, but only in giving.”

– Henry Drummond, 19th Century writer and lecturer

PVUMC Foundation Administration:

A Board of Directors, composed primarily of PVUMC

members, administers the work of the PVUMC Foundation,

a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. The board members are

elected by the church’s annual charge conference and are

divided into classes that serve three-year terms. The

Foundation’s funds are maintained and managed by the

Desert Southwest United Methodist Church Foundation.

How to Support the PVUMC Foundation:

Often the easiest way to support the Foundation is through

a testamentary bequest. Simply include the following

language in your estate plans:

“I give, devise, and bequeath to the Paradise Valley United Methodist Foundation of Paradise Valley, Arizona, the sum of $_____________ (or insert the description of a specific asset or a percentage of your estate).”

The Federal identification number for Paradise Valley

United Methodist Foundation is 86-0601887.

Other simple giving options include:

• Outright gifts of cash, stocks, bonds, real estate and

personal property

• Life insurance policies naming the Foundation, the

owner and beneficiary

• Life income gifts such as gift annuities, charitable

lead trusts, and charitable remainder trusts

• Change of beneficiary on IRAs, annuities and life insurance

Through your gifts to the Foundation, we can share God’s

love in action. For more information on making a donation

to the PVUMC Foundation, please contact the church

office at 602-840-8360 to schedule an appointment with a

representative of the Foundation.

PVUMC Foundation’s Vision:Our endowed gifts today assure we can

provide unique ministries tomorrow.

Paradise Valley United Methodist Church4455 E. Lincoln DriveParadise Valley, AZ 85253-4019602-840-8360pvumc.org