By Stephanie Burke
“We know our church is a good steward of its resources and uses them to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the Midlands and the world. We want to help our church continue with its important ministries of sharing the good news and loving our neighbors.” – Legacy Givers
Passionate about the vision and mission of their longtime church home, a South Carolina Lutheran couple wanted to explore how they could support the ministries of the church not just now but beyond their lifetime. When they were ready to begin the conversation, they called Stephanie Burke, ELCA Regional Gift Planner for the Carolinas, to learn about their options. Hearing their passion to not only gift a variety of ministries but also provide for their family, Stephanie introduced them to the concept of a Charitable Remainder Trust, a philanthropic giving tool that will provide a stream of income to both their loved ones and the ministries and charities they hold dear.
“The CRT allows us to create even more monetary gifts for our children and grandchildren AND to the ministries we love,” said the couple. “Ministries that have been important to us and our values during our lifetime, and we want that support to continue when we’re gone.” Stephanie helped them establish their CRT, identify beneficiaries that best align with the intent of their gift as well as put the building blocks in place for an endowment in memory of one of their mothers, a fierce advocate for women’s and children’s issues.
“Stephanie gently guided us in exploring where we wanted our legacy giving to go and shared ideas of how we can do that; to grow our gifts to our church and other ministries and how we can reduce the tax burden on our children in the process. There are new laws that impact our giving and her ideas made perfect sense.”
If you would like to explore how you can support your loved ones AND the ministries you hold dear or bring a Planned Giving focus to your church, contact ELCA Regional Gift Planner, Stephanie Burke, at 704-293-9436 or stephanie.burke@elca.org. Supported by the South Carolina and North Carolina Synods and other partners, her consultation comes with absolutely no obligation and is entirely confidential.
