Stewardship Beyond Our Lifetimes

Churches, and church folk, are notoriously tight-lipped about money matters.  This makes the annual attempt to solicit pledges for the upcoming year, in order to plan a congregational budget, an exercise that most people try to avoid.  Most pastors grudgingly give one sermon a year about money, usually apologetically, and then avoid all mentions of money the rest of the year.

Personally, I am trying to learn how to talk about money in a more helpful way in the church, though I know that I have a long way to go because I usually would like to avoid the subject too.  However, our collective reluctance to talk about money means that we do not always think about money in a religious way.

This is most obvious in how many of us choose to prepare for the distribution of our assets and property after our deaths.  Many people avoid thinking about this at all, and never prepare any sort of will, leaving their close family members to deal with it (or even the government).  But a small bit of preparation can see to it that we can give gifts to those people and organizations we value after our death.

Our very own area representative to the Christian Church Foundation, Kirby Gould, has recorded a couple of short videos that can help church members think about how they might give an estate gift to their congregation or other ministry.  If you have never thought about planning, or if you've never thought about your faith when you've made such estate plans, I encourage you to watch these videos.

Given retirement accounts and the value of real estate, most people have a larger estate than they realize, even when they are young.  It is never too early to take a little bit of time and expense to have an attorney draw up a basic will.  And, when you do, don't forget to include those organizations that you have supported with your time and gifts during your life, including the church.