April 12, 2021
UMDF Board Announces Name Change to Wesleyan Investive
On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff at the United Methodist Development Fund, it is my honor to share some exciting news about the organization. Since 1969, UMDF has been supporting the work of the United Methodist Church to help bring God-sized dreams to reality. TMF was honored to become a part of UMDF’s story in 2017 when we were asked to manage the fund’s loans and investments, and since then our involvement and influence have continued to grow. For example, we formed a new board, implemented a marketing plan, and launched a leadership platform on a national scale. To clarify, UMDF is a wholly separate organization from TMF; however, TMF has been guiding and staffing UMDF since 2017, and so we wanted to share this news with our TMF family.
In this season of great change and need in the church, we have entered into our own time of discerning God’s purpose for our organization. Rooted in our values of Servanthood, Integrity, and Competence, we believe now, perhaps more than ever, we are called to be a means of grace for the church through our investment in people, partnerships, and possibilities in local congregations and communities. This discernment is driving us to expand the reach of our loans and leadership ministry and gives us the opportunity to claim an identity that reflects our widening commitment to the church’s mission.
Today, UMDF officially transitions to the Wesleyan Investive. “Investive” means “serving or tending to invest or endow.” Investive reflects our core values and our purpose to empower the church in the achievement of its God-appointed mission. Wesleyan Investive is a name that encompasses who we are striving to be - with Wesleyan principles at the core of all our investments. John Wesley viewed the world as his parish, sharing the Good News from the fields to the mines. Wesleyan Investive embodies that heritage of innovative ministry and our commitment to investing in God’s work in the world by:
- Resourcing congregations through loans, so they might more deeply engage their mission field
- Emboldening high-capacity leaders through networks of learning that inspire innovation and courage
- Enabling missionally-driven innovation and spiritual entrepreneurship to create a deeper impact
- Cultivating partnerships with impact-focused investors to expand opportunity
We are grateful for each of you, leaders, congregations, and investors, for being part of this important work, as we all seek to be a little closer to the world that God imagines.
Sincerely,
President Tom Locke
About TMF:
Texas Methodist Foundation (TMF) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the Church to achieve its God-appointed mission, and living our values of servanthood, integrity and competence. TMF is the largest United Methodist foundation in the country offering assistance to United Methodists through investments, loans, grants, leadership platforms, gift planning, and endowment services. TMF serves the six United Methodist conferences throughout Texas and New Mexico. TMF is based in Austin, Texas. To learn more, please visit tmf-fdn.org.