Board of Directors

Officers

  • Clara S. Wade, President
  • F.D. Hornaday III, Vice President
  • Rev. Reginald Ponder, Ph.D., Secretary
  • Christine Dodson, Treasurer

Board Members

  • Rev. Donna Banks
  • Donna Chavis
  • Larry D. Coats
  • Rev. Charles M. Cook, District Superintendent
  • Lloyd G. Gurley
  • Henry M. McGill, Chair Socially Responsible Investing Committee
  • Allen Parker, CFP
  • W. Daniel Pate, J.D.
  • Farris W. Womack, Ph.D.

Ex-Officio

  • NC Conference Treasurer— Christine Dodson, CPA, MA
  • President / NC Conference Council on Finance & Administration — Rev. Danny G. Allen
  • Vice President / NC Conference Council on Finance & Administration — Sheila B. Ahler, CPA

Elected Presidents of the Foundation

  1. Rev. Gurney P. Hood – First President of Methodist Foundation 1956 – 1962.
  2. John M. Dozier – Charter member of the Foundation Board 1963 – 1967. President from 1965-67. Completed development of the Wills Program.
  3. Sidney Loy Gulledge, Jr. – Elected to the Board in 1961. Served as President from 1967 – 1986.
  4. Thomas E. Chandler – Elected to the Board in 1978. President from 1986 – 1996. Change of corporate name during his tenure.
  5. Lloyd Milton Whaley – Elected to the Board in 1991. President from 1996 – 2003. Change in corporate structure and accounting.
  6. W. Daniel Pate – Elected to the Board in 1993, elected Vice President in 1996. President from 2003 – 2010.
  7. Clara S. Wade – Elected to the Board in 1993. Served as Secretary, Vice President, and chair of the Investment Committee. President from 2010 to present.

Appointed Lay/Clergy as staff director

  1. Rev. F. Olen Hunt – 1959. First full time Director of Department of Gifts and Wills, named Director of the Foundation in 1961.
  2. Note: A number of years passed without a staff director
  3. Rev. John K. Bergland – First Executive Vice President by that title 1983 – 1984, formerly – Director of Deferred Giving.
  4. Rev. Douglas L. Byrd – Executive Vice President and Director or Gifts and Wills 1985 – 1999. Later his title was changed to Executive Director. Change in corporate board structure in 1996-97. Investment fund grew significantly under his leadership from approximately $13,000,000 and 35 investment funds to just over $68,000,000 and 500 invested funds. He professionalized the executive and office management, the planned giving and trust and gift annuity practices, and elevated the Foundation’s national recognition and status through professional training and the National Association of United Methodist Foundation Directors.
  5. I. Lynn James – First non-clergy professional staff Executive Director 1999 – present.

Other Key Conference Leadership

  • Marvin J. Cowell, First Secretary-Treasurer of the North Carolina Conference (c. 1953)
  • Rev. Charles S. Hubbard, Chair of Gifts and Wills Department
  • Mr. Nelson Gibson, Conference Lay Leader for many years

Through the years, the Foundation’s name has been: Methodist Fund Incorporated, Methodist Foundation, Inc. and United Methodist Foundation, Inc.