Stewardship with Susan Ranous
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
11 WAYS TO SUPPORT STEWARDSHIP FOR YOUR CHURCH #7
After a couple of weeks off, we are in the seventh week sharing about the VANCO stewardship booklet on the 11 Ways to support stewardship for your church. This week, we are discussing Memorials/Legacy Gifts.
Have you considered the thought that people have supported their church or other causes that were near and dear to their heart while they were alive; might they want to continue doing that after their pass away?
While this makes sense, did you realize that less than half of all Americans have a will? What that means is that when they pass away, their resources, their assets will go to the next of kin and/or disbursed pursuant to the law and what a court of law decides.
Discuss this with your finance folks and with your congregation. Encourage them to care for charities that they have supported during their lifetimes and also friends and family that may not “follow the rule of the law.”
A wills workshop, perhaps led by an attorney, to talk about what happens without a will, and how wills and trusts work, would be well worth the time and effort.
Wills, powers of attorney, health care proxies, etc. are important documents that everyone should have in place.
I did want to mention something about memorials and legacies/bequests that sometimes confuse folks.
Memorial gifts are gifts given in memory of someone (not by the deceased person, but by friends and family). A bequest or legacy is left by the decedent, perhaps in their will or by virtue of a trust. In the United Methodist Church, those bequests must be accepted by a Charge Conference.
Please help the folks in your congregation to prepare for what happens after they pass away; giving to the church would be great, but simply making sure they do what they have to do is vitally important.
If you wish more information on anything you’ve been reading about, please feel free to contact me at (315) 427-3668 or sranousacctg@twcny.rr.com or susanranous@unyumc.org. I’d be happy to help or answer any questions.
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