Detterick moves to calm concerns over payment of $150 million gift
Craig M. Kibler, The Layman Online, June 22, 2006
217th General Assembly
Birmingham, Ala. BIRMINGHAM – John Detterick moved Wednesday to calm concerns that a Colorado businessman who made a $150 million gift to the Presbyterian Church (USA) may not be able to fulfill that pledge.
Stanley W. Anderson, a member of Central Presbyterian Church in Denver, made the donation Friday to the Loaves and Fishes Church Growth Fund, which will distribute the funds to presbyteries through various grants, ranging from $250,000 to $1 million. Presbytery mission causes and seminaries also may benefit from the funds.
While admitting that he did not investigate Anderson’s ability to fulfill that pledge, Detterick told the morning plenary session of the 217th General Assembly about a news story concerning Anderson’s financial situation. The Denver Post reported Wednesday that Anderson “has failed pay his homeowners association fees, dental bills and mortgage payments, and he owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to jilted creditors he persuaded to help keep his business afloat, according to public records.”
“While Presbyterians meeting in Birmingham, Ala., last week gave Stanley W. Anderson a standing ovation for his gift,” the newspaper reported, “Anderson’s modest Arvada home sits in foreclosure and his assets are frozen because of an unsatisfied court judgment.”
Detterick, the retiring executive director of the General Assembly Council, told commissioners that, “as many of you know, there was an article this morning in The Denver Post, with part of it carried in the Birmingham paper, that cast serious doubt on Stan Anderson’s ability to fulfill the $150 million pledge he’s made to the church.”
“I spoke with the reporter yesterday,” he said, “who began the conversation by saying, ‘Have you checked out Stan’s ability to make the gift?’ I said, ‘No, I know him to be a man of integrity.’ He said, ‘Well, you know that he lives in a very modest house in a modest neighborhood.’ I said, ‘Yes, that’s Stan Anderson.'”
Then, Detterick said, “the article goes on to talk about serious financial concerns. Following my conversation with the reporter, I talked to Stan yesterday afternoon and again about 30 minutes ago. Stan has said to me what he said to the newspaper reporter, which was that ‘I would not make a promise to my church that I am not able to fulfill.’ Stan has assured me again that he will keep his promise.”
Anderson told The Denver Post “that he is working to pay off his debts and is confident he will be able to deliver on his pledge.” He also said that the money for the donation to the PC(USA) “is to come from the Trinity Foundation, which Anderson and business partner Edwin A. Smith founded in January.”
“Anderson said the foundation has no assets, but most of the money will start arriving in about a month from ‘off-shore investments we have been working on for quite a period of time’ with ‘multiple partners.’ When pressed for details, he referred questions to a Washington, D.C., lawyer, who did not return a phone call,” the newspaper reported.
Detterick told commissioners that, “I know the news article is a great disappointment to many people who have been excited about that prospect. The agreement provides that the funds will be in place by the end of this November, and that’s before any processing of applications start. I’m quite confident that, this fall, those who are disappointed now, when they see there are funds in the account – that the money is there – they will regain the excitement many of us have about this gift.”
“In the church, unlike a business that oftentimes requires ramification of capability when people make a pledge of a gift to the church, we accept that gift, we accept that pledge, with gratitude and grace,” he said. “And I pray that we will continue to accept Stan’s promise with gratitude and grace as we move forward in this process.”
Later in the afternoon, Janet Schlenker, stated clerk of the Presbytery of Denver, said that, “While Stan Anderson has been an active, faithful elder in the life of the Presbyterian Church, in the presbytery as well as his local congregation, few of us knew anything about his finances. We were just as surprised by his announcement as everyone else.”
“We certainly have no reason to believe his generous offer was not made in good faith or with the best of intentions,” she said in a statement.
“Despite recent news coverage, at this point we can do nothing else than support Stan and be grateful,” Schlenker said. “Like everyone else, the people and churches of Denver Presbytery will wait for the promised funds to be forthcoming.”