2025 Impact Report
Rooted in Faith,Growing in Love
to What is Deeply Rooted
Dear Friends,
At Texas Methodist Foundation, we believe that when people come together in faith, their love becomes action, and that action changes lives. This is the Body of Christ at work, bearing the fruit of God's enduring love.
This year at TMF, we've been inspired by the practice of grafting: a beautiful process by which gardeners and farmers join a new shoot to a strong, established rootstock so both may flourish. It's a powerful image of what TMF strives to do: strengthening the rootstock of the church while tending the grafts of fresh ministry.
Every day, we are honored to work with churches and nonprofit ministries rooted in scripture, rich in faithful practice, and steady in their calling. We partner with innovative ministries and courageous leaders bringing fresh energy and hope to their churches and neighborhoods across Texas and New Mexico.
In 2025, TMF investors, donors, borrowers, and leaders like you helped make love in action possible. We received $TK million in new investments, bringing the total funds managed to $TK million. Our loan portfolio closed the year at $TK million. We received $TK million in gifts to support churches and ministry and made $TK million in donor-directed distributions. Through our Grants ministry, we provided $TK million in grants to TK churches and ministries, serving more than TK individuals. We also invested $TK million in Learning and Innovation innitiatives and cohorts.
Among the many stories of impact this year, two stand out. Rev. Dr. Paul Escamilla — long-time participant in TMF's leadership cohorts and now a facilitator guiding congregations to live the Gospel with new vision and new purpose — chose to invest in TMF's Impact Certificates as another way to strengthen the church's witness. And Scott Roberts transformed part of his IRA into an endowment with TMF, ensuring that the church that shaped him as a child will continue to form future generations in faith.
As you read our 2025 Impact Report, I hope you see your faith reflected in these stories and how your generosity is helping love continue to take root, grow, and bear fruit. Thank you for your partnership as we together tend the grafts needed for vital churches and flourishing neighborhoods.
By the grace of God, may it be so!
Rev. Lisa Greenwood
President & CEO
Texas Methodist Foundation
Mr. John Esquivel
Board Chair
Texas Methodist Foundation
Investing and Lending
Philanthropy
Learning and Innovation
Grants
Impact Certificates
Giving Back by Investing
Investors in TMF Impact Certificates express a faith and generosity that both earn a competitive return* and fund loans to churches and nonprofit ministries. Impact Certificate investors make possible a cycle of generosity that funds churches and nonprofit ministries serving the needs of their communities, helping more people experience God’s love in tangible and transformative ways.
Investing Impact Story
Planting Seeds for Future Miracles
For Rev. Dr. Paul Escamilla, every challenge begins with love, because where there is love, there can be miracles.
As a facilitator with TMF’s Courageous Congregations Collaborate, Rev. Dr. Escamilla helps congregations live the Gospel with new vision and purpose. He purposefully invested in TMF Impact Certificates to seed a future where grace flows through infrastructure and love fuels imagination.
Loans
Helping Ministries Take Root and Thrive
Since the early 1960s, TMF has helped churches and nonprofit ministries secure affordable loan rates and flexible terms that meet their unique needs, sustainably grow for the long term, and realize their God-inspired dreams.
Lending Impact Story
Tending to the Heart of a Community
In 2019, a powerful storm collapsed the roof of Travis Park United Methodist Church’s youth building, flooding the entire historic facility. Yet, the damage didn’t diminish the congregation’s spirit — it revealed their resilience and commitment to their neighborhood.
Thanks in part to a loan from TMF, this historic church completed phase one of its restoration and kept its doors open. Today, the heart of Travis Park UMC beats stronger than ever. Their ministry was never about the building but about providing a home and sanctuary built on the love for their community.
Philanthropy
Planning for Faithful Generations to Come
Planned giving lets your faith take root and grow for generations. TMF’s Philanthropy team works closely with churches and donors to create giving plans that reflect their faith, values, and vision. Through donor-advised funds, endowments, and charitable trusts, we help maximize philanthropic impact — ensuring your generosity continues to bear fruit for years to come.
Philanthropy Impact Story
Passing on a Legacy of Faith and Service
When Scott Roberts was ten, his father changed his life by taking him and his brothers to First UMC in La Porte, Texas. Those early Sunday mornings felt simple at first, with hymns and warm handshakes. But those mornings shaped him deeply, setting a course for his life that he is now passing on.
Inspired by his father’s quiet faith, Scott created an endowment with TMF so his church could thrive for generations to come, ensuring that the church that shaped him as a child will continue to form future generations in faith.
Grants
Nurturing Transformative Ministries
TMF expands donor impact by partnering with innovative churches and nonprofit ministries that transform communities across Texas and New Mexico. TMF supports projects focused on evangelism with social impact and on programs that improve conditions for those living in poverty.
Grants Impact Story
Loving Our Neighbors
neighbor2neighbor (n2n) is a TMF program that helps churches build on their gifts to become the heart of flourishing in their neighborhoods by expanding and deepening relationships.
Through n2n, pastors and lay leaders learn to serve with and for their neighborhoods while re-energizing their congregations. In 2025, the initiative grew to include 21 churches across Texas and New Mexico.
Learning and Innovation
Grafting Innovation Into Rooted Tradition
TMF connects leaders in brave conversations that blend faith tradition and spiritual innovation to support leaders as they stand to their full height — ready to cultivate thriving ministries rooted in courage, creativity, and enduring hope.
Learning and Innovation Impact Story
Joining Deep Roots With New Expressions
In a vineyard, hope works quietly through grafting that joins new vines to established rootstock, nourishing both to bear abundant fruit. A thriving church does the same, connecting deep, resilient roots of faith with fresh expressions of ministry, for the benefit of both.
At TMF, we've seen how tradition can anchor innovation, and how new energy can renew the church. Grafting the two together is for mutual flourishing. When rooted together, we make space for growth so the whole vineyard — the whole church — can thrive and bear fruit for generations to come.
Igniting Imagination Podcast
Stories that Spark Your Imagination
Every movement begins with a spark — and often, that spark is a conversation. The Igniting Imagination® podcast invites church leaders and change-makers into bold dialogue that encourages vision, connection, and renewal. Each episode opens up a dialogue and invites listeners into new possibilities for themselves, their church, and their community.
Digital Tools Help the Church Do God's Work in the Neighborhood
with Rev. Joshua Hayashi
Sharing
the Fruit of Faithful Conversation
Generative conversations on the Igniting Imagination® podcast this year showed us new ministries rooted in the Wesleyan tradition and in faithful witness to heal the world – how a community grounded in faith came together to respond to a tragic disaster, and vibrant ways to reimagine the religious landscape and to innovate with ancient spiritual practices.
Guests shared inspiring stories of answering the call to mutual flourishing, rooted in love, justice, and community.