OUR FOUNDATION CARES FOR CREATION
Churches retain the same options and authority over their asset allocations as they’ve always had, but in April 2024, Faith Foundation Northwest will divest the remainder of its own permanent funds from fossil fuels.
Most of the money that Faith Foundation Northwest manages is owned not by the Foundation itself, but by conferences, agencies, camps, and congregations who choose to invest with the Foundation. Each of these bodies has the authority to set its own asset allocations within the Foundation’s family of portfolios. But a small portion of the Foundation’s 90M in assets under management belongs to the Foundation itself, and these monies are being moved into Fossil Free Portfolios this month.
The move comes after legislation requesting that the Foundation divest from fossil fuels passed with an 89% margin at the 2023 Pacific Northwest Annual Conference. “We’re legally independent from the conferences,” Executive Director Julia Frisbie explains, “so they can’t require us to do anything. But with such a high percentage of delegates supporting it, and with similar legislation coming to the Oregon-Idaho conference in 2024, it made sense to revisit the conversation.”
The Foundation’s board of directors spent eight months in discernment. An ad-hoc committee to consider the issue was chaired by board Treasurer Barbara Dadd Shaffer, who reports that “the committee had a high number of Board members who participated, and the discussion was lively.” While the Foundation’s board holds and honors diverse perspectives on fossil fuels, in the end, investment performance was also a major factor in their decision; the Fossil Free Portfolios have outperformed their counterparts since inception.
It’s important to note that the Foundation’s board of directors categorically rejected the idea of forcing all investors to go fossil-free by closing its non-fossil-free options. “We cannot feed the world without fossil fuels,” writes Gaye Pierson, Vice-President of the board and third-generation wheat farmer. The Board affirmed that the Foundation will continue to offer its Diversified Portfolios to investors alongside the Fossil Free Portfolios. This allows individual congregations to make choices that reflect their values and their context.
While fossil fuel divestment is a big move, it’s consistent with Faith Foundation Northwest’s history.
In 1991, the Foundation began making loans to congregations for building improvements, many of which created significant energy savings.
In 2015/16, after Oregon-Idaho and Pacific Northwest delegates voted to divest their conference funds from fossil fuels, Foundation leadership advocated with Wespath to make fossil free options available, and Wespath listened.
In 2017 the Foundation launched its fossil free family of portfolios.
In 2020, the Foundation made its first-ever loan for solar panels on a house of worship.
In 2021, the board of directors voted to divest 10% of the Foundation’s own long-term holdings from fossil fuels.
In 2023, the Foundation increased the visibility of its Fossil Free Portfolios and approved its second solar loan.
In 2024, the board of directors voted to divest the remainder of the Foundation’s own long-term holdings from fossil fuels. Meanwhile, staff calculated the Foundation’s carbon footprint for the first time, to be published in the 2023 Annual Review.
Congregations who discern a call to creation care will find a strong and willing partner in Faith Foundation Northwest.