Starting on a New Path
Since starting my role in early September, one of the questions I have been asked is, “How does an investment strategist from Omaha end up at Orchard Alliance?” The short answer is that Mark Ashton, the lead minister at Christ Community Church, said he wanted to speak with me after an executive committee meeting. As I walked into his office, he handed me a brochure for the position and said, “You should consider applying for this.”
Yet even beyond that subtle prompting from Mark, this was an opportunity to serve the individuals and churches of The Alliance and was in line with the path God had been leading me down for a long time. A mission statement I wrote ten years ago includes “pursuing work that matches my capabilities and interests and allows me to serve people in a way that glorifies God.” Orchard Alliance provides the opportunity to take an investment background and meld it with the years serving Christ Community as an elder and treasurer.
A significant motivation for leading this organization is the opportunity to play a role in helping the churches of The Alliance navigate one of the most interesting times in church history. With the forced innovation of COVID, how ministry gets done is experiencing a period of accelerated change. Technology has created tools that can be used to help people grow closer to God while introducing numerous challenges at the same time. The church buildings of tomorrow will be used differently than those five years ago. Making the right investments requires money and wisdom.
"A significant motivation for leading this organization is the opportunity to play a role in helping the churches of The Alliance navigate one of the most interesting times in church history" - Scott Kubie
These technological changes are happening simultaneously with the most significant wealth transfer in history. As boomers pass their wealth on to others, the church has an excellent opportunity to access funds that could support it for decades. Yet, those funds are more likely to pass from a generation that gives consistently and trusts institutions to a younger generation that gives less consistently and asks for a different relationship with the charities they support.
As an investment strategist, I often had opportunities to help advisors figure out how to help clients invest their assets. The joy of assisting people in matching their investments to their dreams was very rewarding. However, that joy came with a sense that people’s relationship with their money wasn’t healthy. Consumeristic tendencies cause people to ask for their things to provide more joy and meaning than possessions can. Others feared they would run out of assets and were hoarding wealth rather than using it. Still, others had more money than imagination. They had accumulated large amounts of wealth and had no idea how to use it well.
"Our mission is to equip God’s stewards for greater Kingdom impact, and we look forward to answering this call every day" - Scott Kubie
Fortunately, I have been led to a place where churches and individuals come for help figuring out those questions. Even better, I get to work alongside a wonderful group of people who share that same goal. I am incredibly grateful for the leadership of my predecessor, Larry McCooey, who has helped create an organization dedicated to using finances to further the Kingdom. Our mission is to equip God’s stewards for greater Kingdom impact, and we look forward to answering this call every day.
