"excel in this grace of giving" (2 Cor. 8:7)

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Legacies: gifts of love, life and hope

Paul teaches us to give from what we have (2 Cor. 8:12; see also Dt.16:17). That means our day to day income. It also means our estate, what one day we will leave to our loved ones and to the church and charities we valued in life. An up to date Will protects and provides for those we love. Legacies are gifts of life, love and hope that can unlock ministry and mission. For many of us it may be our most generous gift. 
In the pandemic church and charity income was hit hard. Legacies, generous giving decisions in the past, proved a lifeline in the present. Every legacy, large or small, makes a difference.

Anglicans have long talked wills and gifts in wills. They are mature expressions of generous discipleship. They honour our memory. They bless our church; the causes we value in life. But hesitant to ask, churches generally miss out on millions as legacy giving continues to grow. A legacy strategy is a task for later and the National Giving Team guidance is sound. Right now the focus is a timely, sensitive response to legacy information requests.

Read Settling our Estate and note for now the Stewardship paper. Check out the free, online wills from Farewill in partnership with the Church of England.  Above all, prepare some simple legacy literature:
  • The Church Print Hub offers an attractive, generic legacy leaflet but not as yet the ability to customise.
  • For a customisable leaflet click the link in Downloads and follow the video guidance to edit graphics and text in Canva.