The LCMS Foundation was created in 1958 by the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod to provide Christian estate planning services to LCMS members and help ministries invest or endow the gifts members leave them in their wills or estate plans.
“My congregation won’t know what to do with a gift if I leave something from my estate.” That is where the conversation turned between two friends having coffee one afternoon. The other responded, “I thought our Church had an endowment fund. Have you considered giving to that?” “I hate to admit it, but I really don’t know what it is about. I’ve heard financial reports at congregational meetings, but it just seemed like numbers. It’s my fault, but I have never investigated what that fund does.”
This experience is quite common for many of us. Our world is so full of information that we have to decide what to consider and when to consider it. It may be true that we haven’t spent much time thinking about charitable gifting from our estates, and so we have not paid much attention to something like our congregation’s endowment fund or future ministry fund.
So where do we start? Your LCMS Foundation Gift Planning Counselor is trained to assist you in creating a gift plan that blesses the family you love and the ministries you care about. Part of that work for gifting to ministry might be some research, identifying the proper recipient of a gift from your estate. Maybe your questions are similar to what others have already asked. Get connected with Florida Gift Planning Counselor who knows exactly who to ask. Contact Tony Hunt, CFRE, at 260-222-1291 or email tony.hunt@lfnd.org.