85 years of investing in the church through financial services and leadership ministries.

In 1938, as the Great Depression was devastating families and congregations across Texas, a group of forward-looking Methodists decided to stand up and “aid our Methodist institutions in the achievement of their God-appointed mission.” With a deep and profound understanding of the vital role the Church served in the lives of its members and communities, this gathering of clergy and laity created the groundwork to promote a “Christian Doctrine of Stewardship” that would become the Texas Methodist Foundation.

In the 1990s, Tom Locke became President of TMF and dedicated the foundation as a ministry that works to respond to the emerging needs of the church through financial services. Under Locke’s leadership, we anchored our efforts to empower the church to achieve its God-appointed mission.

Since the 2000s, we've added Learning and Innovation and the Courageous Leadership Imperative in partnership with Lilly Endowment’s Thriving in Ministry initiative. We welcomed the New Mexico Methodist Foundation to the family and defined our ministry as "Stewarding Potential.” In 2019 Heartspring Methodist Foundation merged with TMF, and TMF also became managing director of the United Methodist Development Fund (UMDF), renamed to Wesleyan Impact Partners in 2023.

Tom Locke retired in 2022, ending his 33-year presidency having helped grow TMF from $104 million to over $700 million in assets. Rev. Lisa Greenwood, an ordained elder in the Methodist church, became President & CEO and has strategically guided TMF as a thought leader in a new spiritual and cultural landscape across the Wesleyan ecosystem.

Today, TMF is one of the largest Methodist foundations in the country. We’re recognized for our financial expertise, leading and convening conversations, and innovative programs. Most importantly, we’ve established deeply rooted relationships with churches across Texas and New Mexico, and we continue to support the church in the achievement of its God-appointed mission, forever guided by our core values of servanthood, integrity, and competence.