lasting gifts
Yesterday, I received a phone call from a member of the church wanting the federal ID number so that she could include Faith UMC in her end of life giving. I got her the information that she needed and thanked her for the legacy that she would be leaving for those who come after her. I was so excited after hanging up that I went to tell Glen since he handles the finances of the church. Faith has been clear since the early years that we would not be a place where people left memorial money to have their names hung on the building or on the furniture, etc. But people have left money to fund the children’s ministry, pay for the organ and the new sound system and even the garden in the circle drive way. We just don’t put their name up. Because that goes to the heart of why we give. If we are just giving because we love God and the church that nurtured and helped us live out our faith then we don’t need to have our name put on anything. If we give because we want recognition, then the church doesn’t really want those gifts. I once had a printer in my office at the Sapulpa First UMC church that someone’s name was on because it had been purchased with memorial dollars. Well, that printer became obsolete and we had to replace it. What did we do then with the nameplate? We just threw it away with the printer it was attached to. When we give to God’s glory, then our names should not be attached to that gift except to give thanks.
I wanted to share this story with you because often people believe that we do not receive memorial gifts or legacy gifts. And that is not true. We welcome them. We welcome them for ministry or for our endowment at the Oklahoma Methodist Foundation. (Our endowment fund is not earmarked for any particular use which is the best kind of fund to have.) Both of those types of gifts go to the long term sustainability of our ministry. They give us the ability to do ministry and to supplement the tithes and offerings of those who currently attend and participate. I once had a youth ministry friend whose entire salary was paid for from a church endowment. How cool is that? His church valued youth ministry so highly that they never wanted the salary of that position to go unfunded. This is just one way that long term gifts can be utilized by a congregation. Jon and I recently created a trust and drafted a new will. We were given the option by our lawyer to give a tithe of our estate (10%) or a set amount. My problem was not if I wanted to give but to how many churches that I wanted to send money to! Jon guessed two but I thought of three.
If you would like to give to the Faith UMC Endowment, please memo your gift “Endowment” for that destination. I ask that you not stop giving to the general fund but that those gifts would be offerings above your tithes. If you would like to include Faith in your estate planning, we can help with any information that you need to make that happen. These expressions of love will go a long way to keep resourcing the many ways we grow and impact our community with God’s overflowing grace.
Love,
