French Camp Academy: A Different Kind of Place

by Sylvia and Tom Dickson

One student described French Camp Academy as a different kind of place. She is right. The mission to serve young people and families for the glory of God stands out in a world darkened by sin. Pointing young people to Christ is the hub of all that happens at FCA. The Second Presbyterian Church Foundation partners with us to change lives.  

For approximately 14 years students from Binghamton Christian Academy, formerly known as The Neighborhood School, have attended FCA. They number totals approximately 25. Some stay years and graduate. Others a matter of a semester or two.  

Certainly, we provide solid academics, quality sports programs, safe, structured, stable homes, and opportunities to learn a variety of skills. But our passion is building relationships—pouring our lives into their lives; showing them how to live like Christ; discovering their gifts and encouraging them in using them. In 2016 we added Life Coaching to the way we build strong relationships. This program pairs a student to a life coach. They meet at least once a month going over life issues and building relationships.

David Duarte

We treat each student with love and respect, which some have never had, and they blossom. We show them how God has built order into creation, established natural laws that govern us, and we see their lives change because of this new understanding. We know this because with amazing consistency they tell us this in the senior exit interview.

The purpose is to cast a vision of hope and restoration through the power and work of Jesus Christ by providing tools and scripture for self-evaluation and relational dynamics.  We have planned one such tool specifically for March of 2020. In 2018 we started Family Focused Retreats with the idea of impacting present and former Binghamton/FCA students.

Many students have come from the Memphis area and returned to impact their neighborhoods. Young people with names like Musa, Lakok, Silla, Duarte, whose lives have been impacted by Christ and are accomplishing good things. 

These are some of the ones that Second Presbyterian Foundation is enabling to live fruitfully and reach goals they never dreamed. No longer do they walk with their eyes cast down. They walk more confidently through positive doors you have helped open.

FUNDation Strong: Two Funds Benefit Graduates of Binghampton Christian Academy

Mission of BCA

Binghampton Christian Academy is a private, Christian day and boarding school that serves the Binghampton community.  Its mission is to develop students who honor and glorify God, promote spiritual and academic excellence, and encourage them to become productive Godly leaders. 

Those involved implement the mission by leading children to Christ, seeking academic excellence, and providing a positive Christ-centered support environment for learning. At the core of these endeavors is prayer.

History of BCA

BCA was founded as The Neighborhood School in 1993 by Mrs. Jo Walt to offer a Christian education to children in Binghampton. In its first year, BCA served 15 students in the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church gymnasium. In August 1994, the school moved to the current location at Tillman and Walnut Grove where it continued to grow to serve 136 students annually in Grades Pre-Kindergarten through 8th Grade. 

Distinguishing Feature: Residential Program

For 30 of the highest needs students, BCA has a novel Residential Program. It is a voluntary program for students who are facing major challenges including: unstable home environments, lack of parental supervision, lack of parental academic support, learning challenges, or emotional instability. The major purpose of the program is to serve as an extension of the home by facilitating after-school instruction, providing around-the-clock care, mentoring the students, providing special activities; and ensuring that the dorms are environments that are conducive to promoting meaningful academic, spiritual, and emotional development.

Students in the Residential Program are supported in their academics through After School Enrichment and one-on-one tutoring; engage in meaningful relationships with community volunteers; expand their spiritual lives through Bible Study and youth group activities; experience unique cultural events; participate in athletic teams; and much more. 

The students live in dormitories that are located on BCA’s campus Monday through Friday and return home on the weekends and during school breaks. Living on campus during the school week allows the students to participate in a broader range of enrichment activities, and ensures that they receive proper supervision, academic support, nutrition, and social interaction. As a “community boarding program”, the Residential Program ensures that these students remain in the community they are from because the school wants them to maintain as strong as possible relationships with their families and the community they are from. 

The Foundation invested $60,000 over the course of three years, beginning in 2010 and until 2013, as it assisted BCA in its efforts to repurpose the residential program to what it has become.

It is the only program of its kind in the region and has produced strong student outcomes including a nearly 100 percent high school graduation rate since 2010.  More than 65 percent of former students have entered college or another post-secondary education program.  BCA works closely with parents to help identify the best high school placement for their child.  The school has been successful at leveraging relationships with private and charter schools in the area to provide opportunities for students. Additionally, the Foundation has two separate funds - Graduates of Binghampton Christian Academy Fund and Meredith Fox Memorial Scholarship Fund - that each provide scholarships that assist students once they leave the care of BCA.  

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Graduates of Binghampton Christian Academy Fund

This fund was established by the Foundation Board in 2013. Initial funding originated from the Board’s movement of $25,000 from its Undesignated Fund and from a $10,000 gift from a donor. 

Omina, Nancy, and Widon

“Many students have come from the Memphis area and returned to impact their neighborhoods. Young people with names like Musa, Lakok, Silla, Duarte, whose lives have been impacted by Christ and are accomplishing good things. 

These are some of the ones that Second Presbyterian Foundation is enabling to live fruitfully and reach goals they never dreamed. No longer do they walk with their eyes cast down. They walk more confidently through positive doors you have helped open.”

The purpose of the fund is to provide scholarships for need based and deserving children who are graduates of Binghampton Christian Academy and are accepted for enrollment at eligible schools at the secondary education level. Eligible schools are those that will further the Christian education that has been afforded the students at BCA. They are schools that are committed to a strong Christian education utilizing a well-regarded Christian curriculum and enhancing the spiritual, social and educational welfare of the students placed under their care. 

One such school is French Camp Academy, located in French Camp, Mississippi. There have been 18 scholarships provided for a total of $16,960 and they have all been at FCA. As of June 30, 2019, the fund balance is $22,044.

Learn more about the relationship of the Foundation with French Camp Academy.

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Meredith Fox Memorial Scholarship Fund

Samuel Kamba and Asu Banga

The Meredith Ashley Fox Memorial Scholarship Fund was established by the Foundation in December 2009 based on an initial ten-year planned gift of $100,000 by a family in our congregation. It provides funding for graduates of BCA to attend Evangelical Christian School for four years beginning in the ninth grade. The scholarship is in memory of Meredith Fox, daughter of Second members Roy and Terri Fox. Meredith attended ECS as a freshman.

Jaylynn Futrell

That gift fostered additional gifts with close to 100 families and individuals choosing to participate in honoring Meredith with contributions to this effort. As of September 30, 2019, $80,000 has been granted in scholarships with a balance of $281,000 remaining in the fund. Four students have received scholarships. Recipients have included Mayada Mukhrais, Samuel Kamba, Asu Banga and Jaylynn Futrell. The partnership with ECS now enables two BCA students to attend at the same time in alternating classes. 

Foundation Newsletter, December 2019

With this issue, a new series begins that lets us hear directly from individuals present and past who have volunteered their time and talents to promote gospel advancing efforts through the Foundation.

We start with Lon Magness, who is a Principal of Reliant Investment Management. He is a current member of the Foundation Board of Directors and is Chairman of its Investment Committee. 

“Becoming involved with the Foundation has been a great reminder that we all have gifts that are useful to the Kingdom and are often not associated with our ideas about ‘ministry’.”

”I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.” Psalm 9:1

Worshipful thankfulness reveals the heart and instructs the heart. It brings adoration to the Lord and not to the world. 

Here are a few of the many ways that we are thankful regarding our church’s Foundation.

A significant amount of grants were made during this last fiscal year, making it the highest year in the 21-year history of the Foundation in terms of funds granted!

Between undesignated funds, designated funds, and donor advised funds, more than $2.5 million was distributed to mission efforts in our city, country, and around the world.

Foundation Visionaries: Lon Magness

Lon Magness is a Principal of Reliant Investment Management. At work, Lon’s responsibilities include portfolio management, investment strategy, regulatory compliance and client relations. He also serves as the firm’s Chief Compliance Officer.

A member of Second since 1998, he and his wife Ragan have three children, Natalie, Meredith, and Mac. He is a current member of the Foundation Board of Directors and is Chairman of its Investment Committee. He has served for many years on the Investment Committee, becoming its Chair in 2011-12. 

The Investment Committee recommends the Investment Policy for approval by the Foundation Board and provides direct oversight of the implementation of the policy and of the investment management company that is hired by the Board. Lon is responsible for regular reporting to the Board on all investment related activities. Here are his responses to questions asked of him.

Q. Why did you get involved with the Foundation?

I got involved initially when our CC wanted to thank one of our former teachers.  We took up a collection and made a gift to the Foundation in his honor, in hopes that it could be a small addition to the ministry efforts that he had emphasized to us.  Later I was asked to serve on a committee, which allowed me to see how the Foundation works and the impact that it can have.

Q. What has getting involved with the Foundation meant to you?

My roles with the Foundation have been a great way to use some of my professional skills in service to God and to Second Presbyterian.  Becoming involved with the Foundation has been a great reminder that we all have gifts that are useful to the Kingdom and are often not associated with our ideas about “ministry”.

Q. What have you learned from your involvement with the Foundation?

I have learned that blessings truly flow.  I have been involved long enough to see the Foundation provide support to developing ministry leaders who complete their training, come back, and directly impact our church and our city, as well as many others.  I have enjoyed watching the Foundation seed several local ministries that have grown and developed into truly life-changing and independently successful ministries. I have watched a foreign ministry opportunity transition from an ambitious idea to a major global initiative with spiritual implications that only our great Lord could make happen.   

Q. How do you see the Foundation being effective as a strategic partner with the church?

The Foundation gives Second a virtually permanent ability to undertake and support ministry priorities and initiatives that address major needs here and around the world.  The vision of the Foundation and generosity of our congregation has provided an amazing opportunity for us to be strategic and focused in our ministry efforts, beyond the next week, month or year. To think of the long-term impact of the Foundation on so many important local ministries, on developing spiritual leaders, and on meaningful world evangelism efforts is almost mind-boggling now.  

Q. How do you see the Foundation being effective as a resource for members of the congregation to carry out their charitable intent?

The Foundation provides a unique vehicle for any of us to enjoy giving during our own time, and have confidence that these gifts can outlive any of us.  There are well established governance practices and disciplined processes in place to ensure that the generosity of our congregation will be faithfully administered and dutifully employed for generations to come.

Now Thank We All Our God

I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
Psalm 9:1

We offer praise and worship to God because He is worthy. When we are being thankful to Him as part of that praise, it puts our hearts in a place to recognize God’s provision. Our congregation has literally millions of reasons to thank the Lord for the Foundation. Here are a few:

• God implanted a vision for such an organization like the Foundation in the minds and hearts of a few individuals, who then acted on that vision.

• The vision was received by the staff and lay leadership of the church and in their God given wisdom, they allowed the pathway to go forward.

• Hundreds of members of our congregation, including many saints who have gone ahead to our eternal home, have sacrificially given gifts to the Foundation.

• Thousands have been reached with the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ through grants both at home and abroad that target the unreached, under-evangelized, and under-resourced; the development of Christian leaders in a variety of settings; and the awarding of scholarships for those connected to Christian causes.

• God has given wisdom, talents, and time to the previous and current Board and committee members and they have used those gifts in such a manner to benefit and grow the Foundation, as well as to strategically disburse those resources.

• God has prospered the assets given to the Foundation with positive and abundant growth for over 21 years. 

2018-19 Grant Total Raises Mark Again

The following grants were made during this last fiscal year, making it the highest year in the 21-year history of the Foundation in terms of funds granted. They include grants from the undesignated fund and many designated funds. Additionally, grants were made to eligible ministries from donor advised funds.

Home Missions

NCC College Scholarships                                   $89,850

Esperanza                                    $75,000

Alcy Ball Development Corporation                                  $75,000

Downtown Church                                                            $52,000

2PC Broadcast Ministry           $45,000

My Cup of Tea Ministry                                                    $40,000

Christian Psychological Center           $16,000                                                                                    ______________                               $392,850

World Missions

2PC World Missions                         $139,500

Intercultural Church Planting Network – Netherlands   $35,000

Tenwek Resident Housing - Kenya $35,000

First Greek Evangelical – Athens                                       $25,000

Genesis University – South Africa             $25,000

City to City Europe Training Conference $25,000

Third Millennium / Chinese Leaders Training                  $25,000     

Intercultural Church Planting Network – Europe            $20,000   ________________       $329,500

Christian Leadership Development

Seminarian Scholarships         $206,280

Youth Internships          $59,000

Pastoral Internships         $59,000

Presbyterian Day School Scholarships         $12,000

PDS Young Scholars Program         $11,235

Evangelical Christian School Scholarships         $11,389

Youth Donor Advised Funds         $10,000

Children’s Music Ministry         $10,000

Fellows Program and Scholarships         $7,850

Music Ministry Internships         $6,768

Conservatory Scholarships         $2,020

Downline Ministries         $1,600

Library         $1,600

French Camp Academy Scholarships                     $1,000

Family Camp Scholarships         $385
_________________     $400,127

Subtotal   $1,112,478

Donor Advised Grants   $1,431,690

TOTAL $2,544,168

The Legend and Legacy of Mr. Music of Memphis

FUNDation Strong: The Berl Olswanger Memorial Scholarship Fund

Berl Olswanger, W.C. Handy, Paul Flowers
Photo Courtesy: The Commercial Appeal

Among some of the longer existing funds held by the Foundation is the Berl Olswanger Memorial Music Scholarship Fund, which was created by the Session on November 9, 1981 and administered under the former Wills and Endowment Committee, until such time that the Foundation was formed and the Fund was transferred to the Foundation.  Berl Olswanger died in October of that year at the age of 63.

Who is Berl Olswanger?

Known as Mr. Music of Memphis beginning in the 1960s, the lifelong Memphian began playing the piano when he was three years old and had his own radio program on WMC at the age of twelve. In the 1930s he toured the country with the George Olsen orchestra. He served in World War II for four years and became Admiral “Bull” Halsey’s entertainment and music officer for the South Pacific. Bing Crosby, Jack Benny, and Bob Hope were among many entertainers that he accompanied during that time. 

In the 1950’s he had his own television show in the Memphis market through WMCTV and it continued as a daily show into the 1960s. He eventually had recordings through RCA and in the late 1950s was the music director for Pepper Records in partnership with John Pepper, co-owner of WDIA radio station in Memphis. He composed close to forty compositions. 

Photo Courtesy: Memphis/Shelby County Public Library

Berl became an entrepreneur in the 1960s, owning up to three stores that were a combination of a music school, music studio, and piano store in the Memphis area where he taught countless Memphians. He taught piano in the unique style of chord method. He even published the Berl Olswanger Piano Course that was distributed nationally. He was well known for his commercial jingle writing and vocal arrangements for widely known vocal groups.

He was known personally by many Memphians as he transitioned from solo playing engagements to forming the Berl Olswanger Orchestra and its famous “Olswanger Beat” which was in high demand for performances. He was a master piano player for over six decades – playing, writing and orchestrating a wide variety of arrangements and in different styles, all stemming from his excellent grasp of ragtime.

Berl and his wife Edna were members of Second as well as the Chapel Class, where he often played for his fellow class members. The Chapel Class was so appreciative of his ministry among them that they supported the fund established by the Session with both their dollars and over the years with their active engagement in the lives of young musicians who would honor the Lord with the furtherance of the talents given to them. The fund was further enhanced upon the receipt of the proceeds of a life insurance policy which was a bequest to the Church by Berl.

The Scholarship

The scholarship is awarded to one or more qualified Christian students majoring in music with preference given to members of Second Presbyterian Church.  

Special consideration is given to students planning to or attending a Memphis college or university, or to those who, while on scholarship, are willing to participate in Christian music endeavors within the church or elsewhere.

Scholarships are bestowed in the form of a grant and disbursed to the college or university. They are renewable for four years.

Edna & Berl Olswanger

The responsibility for the selection process rests upon the Berl Olswanger Memorial Music Scholarship Committee consisting of the following individuals: Chair of the Foundation’s Grants Committee or his or her designee, President of the Chapel Class, two members of the Chapel Class who are appointed by the President of the Chapel Class, Director of Music, and a member of the Church Choir who is appointed by the Director of Music. Marion Quinlen has chaired this Committee since the Foundation’s involvement. Charlotte Neal remains a long-time committee member and Nancy Crosby served in this capacity for many years.  

As of June 30, 2019 the fund balance was $93,108. Since the Foundation has had the fund, $41,000 in scholarships have been granted to date from this endowed fund. Prior to that, approximately $25,000 had been distributed for a total of $66,000. The Foundation is able to accept additional donations to this scholarship fund and to the College Music Scholarship Fund which the Foundation established as an expendable fund in order to complement the Olswanger Fund with immediately available scholarship funding.
 

The Recipients

Nineteen students have benefitted from this scholarship. The universities attended include Memphis, Rhodes, Union, Belmont, Vanderbilt, Millsaps, University of Mississippi, University of Alabama, Arkansas State, East Texas State, and University of Michigan. Some of the more recent recipients have included Daniel Polloreno and Molly Johnson Pennington, who both received degrees from the University of Memphis and Katie Neal, who completed her Bachelor of Arts in Music from Union University.  

Sam Johnson

Sam Johnson is the most recent recipient. Sam began his studies in Vocal Performance at the University of Memphis this fall. He recently graduated from Millington Central High School where he compiled a long list of accomplishments and awards in the choral and athletic worlds. You may have seen Sam in the choir where he sings as a tenor. He also serves as one of the Music Ministry Interns sponsored by the Foundation. Sam says, “My goals include being able to sing in Opera Memphis, Broadway, and learn more about music therapy and theater.” Sam serves in our church during Sunday and other evening services as well as special music events. He is mentored by Calvin Ellis, Choral Director at Second and Clay Fusion with Campus Outreach. 

Foundation Newsletter, June 2019

In May, at an event in San Francisco, Google recognized a ministry in the Orange Mound neighborhood with deep ties to Second as its 2019 Tennessee Small Business of the Year. My Cup of Tea will be featured in Google’s economic publication with 51 other small businesses from across the nation.

The Foundation has supported My Cup of Tea with grants for the last two years.

Second’s Domestic Outreach Director Brian Lewis says, “My Cup of Tea is a strategic foothold in Orange Mound for ongoing kingdom work. It has provided income and job skills, created a venue for racial reconciliation, and developed a vehicle for knowing Christ. It is a bridge-building ministry that breaks down barriers between class and ethnicity.”

“Ministry and serving alongside our local mission partners is as natural and reflexive as breathing to Eddie Foster. He has poured himself into expanding the Lord’s kingdom, with a special focus on Memphis. His heart for all people has encouraged us all.”  

Brandon Morrison
Foundation Grants Chair

Learn how the Foundation has shown its appreciation for the work of the former Director of Domestic Missions.

Our church’s one earthly Foundation is strong — due to the individual strong funds. The individual funds are strong — due to the one Foundation.

Ever wonder what the Second Presbyterian Church Foundation does with the resources it has and how it is even possible to do as much as it does? The monthly FUNDation STRONG series conveys this information including the current and cumulative ministry impact that affects not only our ministry partners, but our own congregation.

Understanding Our Church's Foundation

The combined assets of the Foundation and the Realty Foundation are currently close to $29,000,000. Additionally, grants have been made totaling $28,000,000 over the 21-year life of the organization for a total of $57,000,000 in combined resources.

 The resources needed for all of the grants the Foundation makes are housed in funds. There are different types of funds. Some are undesignated and some are designated. Some of the designated funds are designated by the donor and some by the Board. Some funds are designed so that only the annual earnings are available to be spent, while others allow for the entire balance to be spent. 

 Our church’s one earthly Foundation is strong — due to the individual strong funds. The individual funds are strong — due to the one Foundation. 

 The one Foundation:

•  provides a platform to host funds suited for long-term management and growth as well as a platform to foster new creative funds

• gives collective investment strength and opportunities that benefit the individual funds

• allows the marrying of funds to accomplish a specific purpose.

 The individual funds:

•  collectively strengthen the one Foundation    

• benefit the ministries of our church as well as her mission partners

• give options to members of the congregation for landing spots for designated gifts

• provide an efficient mechanism for members of the congregation to financially engage with our ministry partners

 There are close to 40 total funds. Understanding where the money comes from and what ministries are funded by those individual funds is key to understanding what the Foundation does.

 In 2015, the Foundation began a dedicated monthly post in the online Messenger called Living Out Your Legacy. This past fall it was decided to use that space to inform the congregation of how the Foundation is structured by way of its funds. The two-year long series is called FUNDation STRONG.

 Those articles touch on the history behind the establishment of the fund; the mission of the fund; the current impact and relevance of the fund; and any future goals for that specific fund.

This series is a way to dive deeper in an enjoyable way – not with unending numbers and statistics – to learn about the Foundation. Follow along each month as the mystery of the big story and big numbers is revealed through the impact of the smaller yet powerful stories.

Serving Well: Eddie Foster

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The Foundation Board of Directors recently honored Eddie Foster, former Director of Domestic Missions, for his 13 faithful years of service as a trusted advisor to the Foundation.  It did so by adding $50,000 to the endowed Home Missions Reserve Fund. This action will expand committed resources to the area of domestic missions.

 When considering making strategic grants to local agencies, both the Foundation Grants Committee and Board of Directors look to receive input from the Domestic Missions department of the church. Potential grants may be for existing church ministry partners or new emerging ones. A thorough review is provided by the Domestic Missions staff as to the suitability of the potential grant and the strategic nature of it. Church staff often accompany Foundation staff and volunteers on site visits.

Eddie, who retired in December 2018, was an invited guest to the Foundation’s recent Board meeting where they presented their action. In response, Eddie has conveyed the following. “It is deeply meaningful to me that some additional dollars are going to be invested in ministry in our city that somehow are connected with me.   

“We recognize that as a church we have been exceptionally blessed with financial resources.  While the investment of our people directly in God’s work in our city is, in my judgment, the greater contribution we make to ministry efforts in Memphis, certainly the dollars we invest have had significant effect in blessing our city.  I have been in the unique position to see firsthand how the Foundation’s funding has enhanced our support of strategic initiatives.   

“We should all be grateful for the foresight of Herbert Rhea, Monte Weaver, Jim Boren, and others who had a vision of how a foundation could fit into the church’s missional strategy. The others that have had more recent leadership roles with the Foundation have, in my judgment, been faithful to that original vision and even increased the bottom-line effectiveness of how dollars are distributed. The established parameters and controls and the seriousness with which they consider each request have contributed to that effectiveness.  

“I am grateful for the opportunity I have had to have contributed in some small way to the work of the Foundation and am appreciative of the Board’s special recognition.”

Brandon Morrison, Foundation Grants Chair stated, “Ministry and serving alongside our local mission partners is as natural and reflexive as breathing to Eddie Foster. He has poured himself into expanding the Lord’s kingdom, with a special focus on Memphis. His heart for all people has encouraged us all.” 

The city of Memphis is a better place due to the thoughtful labor of Eddie Foster.