Please remember St. Stephen’s Church in your estate planning. Rejoice in the knowledge you are creating a legacy for the spread of Christ’s Kingdom!

 

The Planned Giving ministry at St. Stephen’s Church encourages parishioners to consider a gift designated for the church’s endowment and held in perpetuity in the Endowment Funds of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church.  Because we are stewards of God’s bounty and the recipients of the generosity of our predecessors, we have an obligation to think of those who will follow us.

 

How we pass our financial and spiritual legacy to the future is Planned Giving.  Earnings from any gift to St. Stephen’s are used to enhance our ministries and assure that future generations can continue to do God’s work.  Below you will find a brief description of each Endowment Fund which you may contribute. 

 

• The St. Stephen’s Endowment Fund was established by the 1981 Vestry in order to provide a means for those who want to contribute to a permanent source of funds for the operation of St. Stephen’s.  While we provide for our church during our lifetime through annual pledges, giving to this Endowment Fund is a means to keep on giving after we are gone.   Only the interest income “shall be used for the general purposes of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church as the Vestry shall from time to time decide.”  Contributions to the fund are welcome, and may not be restricted nor designated by the donors for particular purposes.

• The Heritage Fund was created by the 1998 Vestry to provide a means for support of St. Stephen’s in the longer term future in a way that will not interfere with the need for good stewardship of future congregations.   One way to assure this is by stipulating that this Fund’s interest income may not be used for general operating or maintenance expenses.  Rather, it is to be used only “for expanding the mission and ministries of the Church in new ways not provided for by our budget.”  Some examples would include new outreach ministries, crisis or emergency response, new education ministries, and new evangelism initiatives.  Contributions to the fund are welcome, and may not be restricted nor designated by the donors for particular purposes.

• The Walter Pietrzak Memorial Garden Endowment Fund was created by the 2003 Vestry to accept bequests from the estate of a parishioner who worked devotedly on the Memorial Garden and who desires to provide for its care in the future.  No additions can be made to the principle of this fund, but contributions are welcomed to another fund for the same purposes as described above.

 

If you have any questions about suitable gifts and memorials, about our endowment funds, about remembering St. Stephen’s in your Will, or about making other types of Planned Gifts to the benefit of both the church and your estate, please contact us. All inquiries will be confidential. You can reach our office at (865) 483-8497.

 

“A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life
who plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.”

                                                                                                --Elton Trueblood