Ministerial Excellence Fund (MEF)
The purpose of the Ministerial Excellence Fund (MEF) is to provide assistance to Professional Church Leaders (PCLs) facing financial difficulties that prevent them from focusing on the greater tasks of Kingdom ministry. By removing barriers of financial hardship and need, the path is cleared for pastors to focus on, develop and implement excellence in their personal ministry serving their local churches.
Testimonies regarding the blessings of the MEF Ministry can be viewed below.
To learn more about Lily’s Endowment Grant program, visit their website by clicking on the link: www.ecfip.org.
Financial Coach Training Now Available to Churches
A new opportunity is being offered by our Region through the MEF – at no cost to our churches! Please take a look and see if this is an opportunity from which your congregations might benefit.
Crown Coach Training Opportunity
2013 1st Quarter Update – MEF
MEF Application Information
Ministerial Excellence Fund Grants–PASTORS
Download MEF Guidelines–Pastors
To see what effect the MEF can have on the lives of pastors and churches watch the video.
To apply, you will need to download the grant application, family budget details, and tax form below:
Application for MEF Grant–Pastors
MEF Tax Notice for PCLs-Pastors
Ministerial Excellence Fund Grants-CHURCHES
Churches in the American Baptist Churches of Indiana and Kentucky (ABC-IN/KY) and American Baptist Churches of Greater Indianapolis (ABC-GI) may also apply for a grant for their pastor.
Download MEF Guidelines–Churches
To apply, you will need to download the grant application, family budget details, and tax form below:
Application for MEF Grant–Churches
Family Budget Details–Churches
MEF Tax Notice for PCLs–Churches
Estate Planning and Asset Protection Sessions Now Available
Did you know…?
Estate planning and asset protection information sessions are available to you and your congregation through the Ministerial Excellence Fund Ministry.
We have developed a list of attorneys and financial advisors who are ready and willing to come to your church/community to provide information about increasing retirement income, decreasing income and estate taxes, increasing inheritance passed to your heirs and charities, and protecting personal assets during your lifetime. Sessions can be designed to fit within your schedule, are an excellent resource (and outreach) to your community and are provided at no cost.
For more information, please contact: Marc Kirchoff, Minister of Grants and Fundraising, 812-235-9303 or marckirchoff@abc-indiana.org.
MEF Retirement Incentive Grants
During calendar year 2010, the Ministerial Excellence Fund (MEF) will offer incentive grants to supplement retirement savings for our Professional Church Leaders (PCLs) whose churches are not currently providing any retirement savings benefits.
Click the link below for more information and an application.
Retirement Incentive Grant and App — 1-10
MEF Insurance Premium Assistance Grant
Continuation of Insurance Premium Increase Assistance Grant and App
MEF Financial Coaching Grants
The MEF now offers grants to provide financial coaching sessions to our professional church leaders (PCL’s).
Click here for more information:
Financial Coaching Grant — 1-10
MEF Reports
MEF Provides Training Materials for Churches – Financial Peace University
The MEF provides training materials for churches to use in leading Financial Peace University. Churches and individuals are reporting miraculous results.
Click here to view FPU Video testimony.
Update on FPU Materials
For the past several months, the Ministerial Excellence Fund (MEF) Ministry has provided the opportunity for congregations to host Financial Peace University (FPU) sessions at a greatly reduced cost. We have provided the Leadership Kit at no cost to congregations and have subsidized the cost of Individual Member Kits for participants.
When we started, only 9 churches were hosting FPU. Today, we have 35 congregations – fully 10 percent of our ABC/IN-KY and ABC/GI churches – who have or will be hosting FPU. We have received reports of tremendous results – elimination of tens of thousands of dollars in debt and thousands of dollars added to savings. These results translate into resources freed-up to support ministry.
As we move forward, however, the amount of educational funding available through our MEF ministry continues to dwindle. In order to be good stewards, and to meet other needs which must be met through our educational funding, we will be modifying our FPU subsidy grants.
Beginning April 1, 2012, we will no longer subsidize the cost of Individual Member Kits. We will, however, continue to provide Church Leader Kits. Churches who confirm a start date within calendar year 2012 can order a Church Leader Kit through the MEF. The MEF will pay the entire cost of the kit which will be shipped directly to the church. We continue to ask that host churches report results (number of participants, amount of debt reduction and savings increase) at the conclusion of the class.
If your church is considering FPU for your congregation and community, we will accept requests for both Church Leader and Individual Member Kits through March 31. Beginning April 1, however, we will only accept orders for Church Leader Kits. Of course, if you need to order more Individual Member Kits later in the year, you will be able to do so directly from Dave Ramsey, but our MEF subsidy will no longer be available.
If you have questions or concerns regarding FPU and/or our MEF Ministry, please feel free to contact:
Marc Kirchoff, Minister of Grants and Fundraising
Financial Peace University – Testimonies
From Laity:
For myself and family it was a wonderful experience. We have retired all debt except the house. We have the “mini-emergency fund” in place. We even had to use our fund already. We fixed the truck twice. We’ve got a new roof. And we did it without going into debt.
You can’t beat it!
Twenty-five families went through the program. All have seen a great turnaround. The turnaround between debt payoff and savings was around $50,000. It was a remarkable experience for all of us. We thoroughly enjoyed it and learn a lot.
From a Husband and Wife:
Ultimately, it helps our relationship.
We have children that we’re trying to teach the value of a dollar and this is also helping them understand being able to be better managers of their money, and understanding what comes first.
From a pastor:
Financial Peace University was something I had heard of from some colleagues who had done this at their church. When the Region came out with a grant program for Financial Peace, it was kind of a no- brainer. We were looking for something we could offer not only to the congregation, but also to the community in an outreach kind of way.
Crown Financial Ministries
Crown Financial Ministries offers a wide variety of books, seminars and materials designed to encourage faithful stewardship of our time, talent and treasures. You can order any of Crown’s materials online at: https://store.crown.org/?Click=2335
Beginning immediately, when you order from this site, 30% of your purchase total will be given to the Ministerial Excellence Fund (MEF) Ministry of ABC/IN-KY. As you know, the MEF provides grants aimed at alleviating financial difficulties experienced by our PCLs. So, your purchases (individual/personal or for group ministry in your church) will benefit churches and leaders in the entire Region.
To ensure proper credit and tracking, you must select my name from the drop down list on the checkout page. It is just below the section requesting billing information in a section titled “Additional Information.” The drop down list is called “Indicate Your Crown Representative.”