October 2023

Denominational Focus: God creates new hearts in Christians, hearts full of the love of Christ that want to give away money and other things to spread the gospel and help those in need.  The PCA Foundation helps Christians with these new hearts give more just by giving in certain ways.  When Christians give more, the gospel is spread farther, more people are helped, and most importantly, more people give thanks and glory to God.

“By their approval of [your giving], they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ . . . while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you.  Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!”

 ‒ 2 Corinthians 9:13-15

Prayers

October 1-7

Praise God that He preserved the Foundation through a generous family many years ago when its financial resources had become inadequate for the Foundation to continue.

October 8-14

Praise God that He enabled the Foundation and its donors to give away twenty-five million dollars in 2021 for His glory and the advance of His Kingdom.

October 15-21

Pray that God would send the Foundation new professional employees, accountants and gift planners, who love God, and are extraordinarily qualified and full of integrity.

October 22-28

Pray that God would give every adult in the PCA knowledge of the Foundation’s existence and understanding of what it does.

October 29-November 4

Prayer for the PCA to continue to be true to the Bible and the Reformed faith and obedient to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.

Stories

Stories

“God showed His faithfulness to the PCAF in the late 1990s when He prompted a family in the PCA to offer a 10-year matching challenge that provided the funds necessary to re-launch the Foundation. He has always provided the board members and personnel with the right insight, devotion, and abilities to move the Foundation forward in its ministry.

Second, as the Foundation grew over the years, it required talented staff to handle the work of the Foundation and its relationship to our donors. The Lord always provided the right people over time to meet the existing and new challenges of a growing ministry.”

‒ PCAF Staff

“When I was hired as President in 1998, the PCA Foundation received about 75% of its operating support from some of the PCA’s Committees and Agencies.  I was informed by our Board that one of my first tasks would be to have the Foundation become operationally self-supporting by 2000. This seemed like an impossible task, but two things happened. First, a PCA family who loved the work of the Foundation provided a matching gift for operational support over a 10-year period; and second, we began to focus on improving the marketing of the Foundation’s Advise & Consult Fund (a donor-advised fund) which created additional operating revenues. The goal of becoming self-supported by 2000 was achieved and in the following years operational income continued to increase,  providing for the continued success of the Foundation. The Lord provided our needs in every step of the transition.”

‒ Randy Stair, Former President of PCA Foundation (1998-2019)

“In 1981, John Albritton, a ruling elder at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Montgomery received a call from Jack Williamson and Tom Leopard. They said, ‘Look, we’re forming a separate corporation for the PCA. It will be a foundation. You know about all of this type of work. Would you be interested in taking a few years to get it off the ground?’ John replied, ‘Y’all need someone, but that person isn’t me,’ but then he accepted.

Four years soon turned into 35 years. John has served and volunteered as a board member with the PCA Foundation in some capacity since 1981. ‘When we started, the PCA Foundation used to be a two-person operation,’ John said. ‘I’ve watched the foundation grow in staff along with the size of its assets over the years. We began with $225,000 and now have approximately $250 million. We have distributed around $200 million to Christian ministries. It’s amazing. God has been generous to this foundation.’

John set up the PCA Foundation to be entirely self-funded. ‘We’re not an agency that asks our denomination for money for our operational expenses,’ John said. ‘We send the money out. We seek to see God’s Kingdom advance all over the globe through funding the work of PCA churches and various Christian ministries.’

In 1997, Randy Stair took over as president of the PCA Foundation and experienced sustained growth over the next twenty years. With his background in accounting and corporate finance, Randy was able to put the Foundation on solid financial footing and make it truly self-sustaining while growing year-over-year.

In 2019, the PCA Foundation hired Tim Townsend to serve as its next leader. Tim formerly served as the executive counsel for one of the nation’s largest donor-driven foundations. His professional background as an attorney and his experience facilitating complex gifts enabled the Foundation to expand its services and the types of gifts it was able to receive.”

– PCAF Staff

Fun Facts

• The PCA Foundation exists in part thanks to Coca-Cola. John Albritton’s family had operated a Coca-Cola distribution market in Alabama. As a result, he had been introduced to estate planning and philanthropy. His experience and connections in the banking world made him the perfect candidate to start the Foundation. But it wouldn’t have happened without Coca-Cola.
• Cash is usually the smallest amount of an individual’s net worth. Most people have more money in their homes, retirement accounts, and private businesses than they do their personal bank accounts. The offering plate is great, but it is limited in the types of gifts it is able to receive.
• The PCA Foundation has a board of directors appointed by the General Assembly which includes a number of professionals from the financial service industry. Their love of the church and experience helps the Foundation better steward the funds entrusted to it.
• The PCA Foundation is the only agency or committee of the PCA that doesn’t ask churches for donations. The Foundation gets its operating revenue through investment income, fund charges, and unsolicited individual contributions. As a result, it is financially self-sufficient.
• The PCAF receives gifts of things other than cash, even including gifts of large businesses.
• Each year the Foundation sends out more than 12,000 grants to more than 1100 PCA churches, presbyteries, committees, and other Christian charities.

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