Belton, Texas – On Sunday, September 22, Michael Ball, Senior Director of Development at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, took the stage at Temple Bible Church (TBC) to announce the Gary DeSalvo Endowment for Training Ministry Leaders. The new endowment pays tribute to the beloved pastor, who passed away August 26, by helping support UMHB Christian Studies majors.
“Gary had a heart for leaders. He traveled all over the world meeting with, checking on, and training church leaders,” Danny Cunningham, Executive Pastor at TBC, said. “I can’t think of a better way to honor Gary, his wife Bev, and his family than to provide help to future ministry leaders.”
Ball said that in the days following DeSalvo’s “graduation to heaven,” an anonymous donor had approached the university about establishing an endowment at the university that would honor the pastor in a special way.
“This fund will have two purposes,” Ball said. “One will be direct scholarship and tuition assistance to students in the College of Christian Studies at UMHB. [The other] will be to help fund travel expenses for Christian Studies majors to take trips to the Holy Land.”
DeSalvo has been a pastor at TBC for two decades before he was first able to visit the Holy Land. It was a trip that proved very inspiring, and he visited it again on several occasions.
“We look forward to our ongoing work together [with UMHB] to make the love of Jesus known in our community and throughout the world,” Cunningham said. “Temple Bible Church has been directly blessed by the university, as we currently have our own Cru team of five fulltime folks on our ministry team, along with several interns.”
For more information about the Gary DeSalvo Endowment for Training Ministry Leaders, visit umhb.edu/DeSalvo or contact Michael Ball at 254-295-4688.
DeSalvo graduated from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge in 1976. A few short months after graduating with his Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1981, he accepted the position of pastor of Temple Bible Church. He would serve the congregation for more than 36 years.
