Yesterday our church, maybe yours too, observed All Saints Sunday by reading the names of those faithfully departed this last year. Each name was read, bells rung, and a scripture read about the resurrection. A time of memories for family and friends, and in some year to come, a time when family and friends will remember you and me.
I was talking last week with a vice president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod Foundation. The Foundation manages funds and endowments that have been bequeathed to entities of the church by individuals and others. For example, our Seminary endowments are managed by the Foundation, and I add that they do an excellent job. Of course, we eagerly await a return to better market conditions!
When I asked what gift officers throughout the country are experiencing, I was surprised by the answer. It’s not unusual, the VP told me, that when mom and dad pass, the children are upset that some of the estate was given to their congregation or to an entity of the wider church. Is that true? I asked a friend who works with support for missionaries, and he confirmed that happens. He sometimes gets a call, “You had no right to get that money!”
“One generation shall commend your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts” (Psalm 145:4). It’s one thing for children and grandchildren to know that Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa went to church. It’s a teachable moment when they learn the church has been so dear to us that we are leaving part of our estate to the work and mission of our Lord. As the vice president told me, it’s worth a conversation before the bells toll for us some coming All Saints Sunday. “We will not hide them from their children but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done” (Psalm 78:4).
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