Endowment Fund

About 10 years ago the church established the Carlyon Endowment Fund from proceeds of the estate of Ms. Yvonne Carlyon.  Her husband was a former pastor here at Summit Church (then known as the First United Methodist Church of Durango).  Her will designated that the funds were to be used for the updating and maintenance of the interior of the church property only.  Some of the things her gift has been used for recently include the new chairs and carpeting in the Sanctuary, the new digital sound board and speakers for worship, and partial payment of the upcoming kitchen/Wesley Parlor remodel.  In addition to this endowment fund, there is also a General Endowment which is unrestricted other than it cannot be used for operating expenses such as salaries, utilities, etc.  Finally, there is the Higgins Endowment Fund which was created a few years ago in memory of Ms. Doris Higgins who was instrumental in the formation of the Early Learning Center and Thrift Shop.  This endowment is restricted to scholarship funds for families sending children to our Early Learning Center.

All of the church endowments are set up to where the principal money is protected into perpetuity and only the appreciation/growth of the funds can be distributed.  There is an Endowment Team here at the church that oversees the funds and makes decisions on the distributions from the various accounts.  Members of that team are Mel Owen, Sara Clair, Coelene O’Kane, Kathy Sinton, Chris Serwe, and Jack Irby.  If you would like details about the funds, how you can include the church in your estate planning, or maybe even create your own Endowment Fund to be managed by the church, please reach out to Robb in the church office.  We cannot give tax advice as to the benefits of doing something like this, but there can be tax advantages to making this choice.