December 18, 2000

Church will share some of $60 million gift
___ST. MARYS, Ga. (RNS)--A United Methodist church in St. Marys, Ga., that inherited $60 million has decided to give $16 million of it away next year--more than originally planned--and will set up a foundation to help other ministries in the future.
___More than 100 members of St. Marys United Methodist Church gathered Dec. 3 to vote on how to deal with the unusually large donation from member Warren Bailey, a telephone company owner who died in July.
___"The No. 1 issue we were concerned about was to be sure our church understood there were real spiritual dangers involved in keeping this kind of money," said Pastor Derek McAleer.
___Originally, leaders of the 715-member church had considered distributing $12 million, which would have been "a double tithe," McAleer said.
___"We had proposed that we would do a $4 million capital funds endowment, but we decided, no, we don't need that kind of money laying around," he said. "It won't help us. We'll give that away instead."
___Church members approved setting aside $2.8 million of the bequest for an endowment fund that will benefit the congregation. McAleer expects the church will gain $100,000 annually from investment proceeds from the fund.
___McAleer could not say who will benefit from the $16 million the church plans to distribute up front, but he expects the church will continue to help ministries it has in the past, such as Methodist homes for children and senior citizens and other organizations that help such causes as battered women, emotionally disturbed youth and people in need of housing.
___He said the church also may contribute to additional causes.
___The remaining money will be handled by the St. Marys United Methodist Church Foundation. The foundation will set up guidelines for which projects it will consider for grants.

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