Carl Richardson invited Mary Nell and I to a meeting on September 23, 1977, at the Sheraton Inn in Gatlinburg, TN where a group of Pentecostal businessmen formed Vision Foundation for the purpose of using the electronic media to proclaim the gospel to the largest number of people at the lowest possible cost.  At this meeting Carl Richardson founded Vision Foundation in 1977.  Mary Nell and I became charter members. Being a member of the board of Vision Foundation has had a great effect on my life. Vision provided Christian friends, fellowship and a vehicle to utilize his talent and resources for the Kingdom of God. When you operate a large business, sometimes friends who don’t understand money tend to set you aside or make a difference in you. Dan did not want his local church brethren to exalt him or treat him differently because of his giving or business success. It had become awkward making large financial contribution in a small local church. He desired a place through which he could channel his contributions without being so visible.  He knew the money that God had blessed him with could help to pave the way for sinners to hear the gospel message.  Giving brought such joy to His heart, and he wanted to sow into good ground.  Vision provided a niche for businessmen to minister without being spotlighted by their local brethren. Being able to fellowship with other successful Christian businessmen who were a part of Vision Foundation was a tremendous experience that was not available with any other group he knew. He felt the spirit of the Lord was present and blessed him in a special way at every Vision meeting. I was greatly impressed by this group of people. They were primarily Christian laymen and attending various churches in the Church of God. Their meetings were always very exciting as they sought way to proclaim the gospel using electronic media. The members shared exciting ideas as how to raise money and preserve the corpus while contributing the interest income to the ministry.

Arthur Hodges served as President and Hugh Statum served as Vice President during the meeting of the Board of Directors. These couples became lifetime friends to me. Hugh Statum, Art Hodge, Al Taylor, Carl Richardson, Raymond Wolfe, Jim Hamilton, Frank Hildreth, Bill Hildreth, Don and Carolyn Medlin, Roger and Kay Medlin and others.

The second of five proposals in the preamble to the Articles of Incorporation stated:

To inspire and enlarge the vision of Christian ministers and laymen in the use of the electronic media as the God-given tools for reaching the greatest number of people in the shortest amount of time at the lowest cost.

Most of those present at this first general meeting were lay men and women of the Church of God and all were excited at the prospects of uniting their efforts under an umbrella that gave them opportunity for ministry involvement with a new and promising format. Vision Foundation offered these leaders from all walks of life a heretofore unknown opportunity to invest personal time, talent, and money in ministries which, they felt, could literally reshape and change the world.

During the business meeting the Holy Spirit moved on Mary Nell and she gave a message in tongues.

These were the most exciting meetings I had ever attended. I was 45 years of age, and my business and personal life were terribly busy. I was experiencing great success in the five businesses I was operating. I was earning more profits than I had ever dreamed possible.

Carl always looked forward to attending the board meetings. One event that was special to him was traveling to Cleveland, TN and being there with Al Taylor to throw the switch for the new WQNE Radio Station on behalf of Vision Foundation. Knowing that he was a part of something so great was very important to him.   He had dreams that the radio station would become a training center for Lee College students. Another exciting venture was participating in acquiring the Pan Southern Office Building in Cleveland in December 1978. It was then transferred to the Church of God International Headquarters and became the home of Forward in Faith and other ministries of the church.  Members of Vision have become some of the most important friends in his life. Dan held the office of president of Vision Foundation from 1979 to 1983 and has served as chairman since that time.

Take Picture of Plaque that is in dad’s office

Vision Foundation soon in 1978 purchased the Pan Southern office building located next to Cleveland Utilities office on Guthrie Street for the purpose of providing much need office space as an annex for the Church of God International Office which was located at the corner of Keith and 25^th street. The Pan Southern building became the headquarters for the Spanish ministries. Rental income provided the funds necessary to meet the payment of the $144,017 purchase price.

I admit I did not fully understand the transaction, however I had great confidence in Bill Hildreth, who was president of a bank in Lenoir City, Tn., Jim Hamilton, and other member of the board of directors of Vision.

In December of 1978 ownership of the Pan Southern Building was transferred to the Church of God General Offices.

The following pages copied from a writing by Hoyt E. Stone reflects some of the enthusiasm being felt by me and other members of Vision at this time:

Dad has this at his house

Several of the directors knew Roger Gupton and highly recommended him for the position. I had no knowledge of Roger, however I concurred with their recommendation and Roger was hired and moved from Minnesota to Cleveland.

Al Taylor brought to our board an offer for Vision to purchase radio station WQNE.

I always looked forward to attending the board meetings. One event that was special to me was traveling to Cleveland, TN and being there with Al Taylor to throw the switch for the new WQNE Radio Station on behalf of Vision Foundation. Knowing that I was a part of something so great was very important to me.  I had high hopes that the radio station would become a training center for Lee College students. Another exciting venture was participating in acquiring the Pan Southern Office Building in Cleveland in December 1978. It was then transferred to the Church of God International Headquarters and became the home of Forward in Faith and other ministries of the church.

Members of Vision became some of the most important friends in my life. I held the office of president of Vision Foundation from 1979 to 1983 and then served as chairman until Vision was dissolved abut 2009.Those were 30 exciting years.

When I began to use the Internet, I wanted the people of Vision Foundation to catch the vision of using websites and Facebook to proclaim the gospel. Somehow, they failed to accept my invitations to become involved, although they congratulated me for what WinWorld, and Jesus Saves Network were doing.

Al Taylor became president about 2008 and soon dissolved Vision when he transferred the funds to Church of God World Missions and accepted a position with them.

Rev. Hoyt E. Stone wrote a history of Vision as follows:

WHERE IS THIS? 

FIND A PLACE FOR THIS! 1978 Revolving Scholarship Fund

I met with Bob Crick and Dr. Cecil Knight at the School of Theology on August 28,1978 and established a $3,000 Revolving Fun