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.
Considering distributions from your estate that will directly support ministries of the Church may present competing priorities that have existed in you throughout your life.
Greg and Deb sat down after Christmas to have a serious conversation about their future goals for the distributions of their estate, especially those that will go to ministry. For the last twenty years, Deb has been involved in an afterschool outreach effort through a local urban congregation that has the opportunity to provide tutoring and intentional sharing of Jesus with young children. Greg is a trustee at their own congregation and is known as the guy who fixes everything. In their conversation, Greg expressed his desire to make a gift to their congregation’s endowment fund, specifically for long-term care of the building. Not surprisingly, Deb desires to support the local congregation involved in the children’s ministry. At first, they were getting into a bit of an argument, as both were passionate about their feelings. Finally, Deb said, “I think we need to ask someone to help us work through this. Maybe it doesn’t need to be an either-or proposition.”
Your LCMS Foundation Gift Planning Counselor can be the one to talk and pray with you as you discern God’s will. Contact Tony Hunt, CFRE, at 260-222-1291 or email tony.hunt@lfnd.org.