ENCORE Ministry organizes a special Sunday offering every September, and the 2022 offering will support the Bill and Lynn McAlilly Fund for Church Accessibility.

The offering traditionally is the second Sunday (September 11 this year), but church may take the offering any Sunday that is convenient. September 11 is also known secularly as Grandparents Day.

ENCORE Ministry created the fund to honor the McAlillys’ service to the conference and acknowledge Bishop Bill McAlilly’s 43-year career in ministry and his retirement scheduled for September 2024.

To launch the fund, ENCORE Ministry Executive Director Kent McNish presented a $500,000 check from ENCORE Ministry at the inaugural Tennessee-Western Kentucky (TWK) Annual Conference in June.

“ENCORE Ministry’s goal is to build the fund to $750,000 by September 2024. With that amount, we can access interest from the fund starting in January 2025 for matching church accessibility grants to TWK churches in honor of Bill and Lynn McAlilly,” McNish said.

Bishop McAlilly praised the potential impact that grants from the fund will have on churches throughout the conference.

“Lynn and I are filled with gratitude for this promising goal of making our congregations accessible to all persons. The generosity of ENCORE Ministry to honor us in this way will also make a difference in the lives of persons who long to share in the fellowship and worship with their congregations. Making church facilities accessible will be a difference maker for these persons who are among us,” said Bishop McAlilly.

ENCORE Ministry, the official older adult ministry of the Tennessee-Western Kentucky (TWK) Conference, provides older adult ministry resources, leader training, church consultations, and matching grants to equip TWK churches for ministry by, with, and for older adults. TWK churches receive ENCORE Ministry services at no cost. Since 2013, grants totaling $783,880 have been given to churches in the conference.

ENCORE Ministry receives no apportionment dollars from the TWK Conference. Support comes from private donations, endowments, and TWK churches observing the special Sunday offering in September.

Details of the special Sunday offering and downloadable bulletin inserts are at https://encoreministry.org/encore-ministry-sunday/