wfn.org | Evangelism Foundation establishes endowment fund for Drew

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Dec. 9, 1998  Contact: Thomas S. McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
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By United Methodist News Service

The United Methodist Foundation for Evangelism has announced receipt of
a $750,000 anonymous gift to start an endowment fund for a professorship
of evangelism at United Methodist-related Drew University Theological
School in Madison,  N.J.  

The new position will be named for the late  E. Stanley Jones, a
renowned Methodist evangelist, according to officials of the foundation
which has offices in Lake Junaluska, N.C.

The donors have expressed hope that the money will be matched by others
to create a total endowment of $1.5 million.  Bishop Ernest Fitzgerald,
Winston-Salem, N.C., president of the foundation, said the Drew
fellowship is the ninth  funded at United Methodist Seminaries in the
United States and abroad.

"With the assistance of Drew we hope to soon match this gift and fully
endow the chair," Fitzgerald said. 

The foundation supports professorships of evangelism at United Methodist
seminaries because it believes that Christian evangelism, mandated by
the New Testament and
essential to the growth and mission of the Church, plays a critical role
in the academic and spiritual formation of church leaders, according to
Fitzgerald.  "Its goal is to prepare seminarians to include in their
total ministry a strong commitment to winning persons to Jesus Christ,
His church, and a life of responsible discipleship."

The Drew Theological School is part of Drew University, founded in 1867
with funds contributed by financier Daniel Drew. Present dean of the
seminary is the Rev. Leonard Sweet.

The Foundation for Evangelism is an affiliate of the United Methodist
Board of Discipleship, which has offices in Nashville, Tenn.  It was
founded in 1949 by the late lay evangelism Harry Denman who served as
top staff executive of the Board of Evangelism of the former Methodist
Church.  Mission of the foundation is to "promote,  encourage, and
provide resources for responsible evangelism, enabling the United
Methodist Church to bring persons into a personal relationship with
Jesus Christ as His disciples."

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United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
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