Gifts in Wills are a powerful way to support the work of Christian Aid and sustain the ministry of local churches. We’ve brought together church leaders who've seen the impact of Gifts in Wills to tell you how Faith Will helped them.
You can talk about legacy giving at any time of year, but for some churches it'll make sense to do so in Generosity Week or as part of a stewardship campaign. That’s what Rev’d Canon Giles Goddard did:
Legacies have given great help to St John’s, Waterloo in the last few years. Our renovation project received a big boost from an unexpected bequest from a member of the congregation. We’ve found that talking about legacies as part of our stewardship campaigns is a good way to raise awareness. The Faith Will resources are excellent – in fact they inspired me to include Christian Aid in my own Will. I would encourage churches to use them, either on their own or as part of a wider stewardship campaign.
Our resources make it easy to tailor Faith Will to your church or Quaker meeting and the time you have available.
I’m not comfortable talking about legacy giving?
Talking about gifts in Wills can be profoundly life affirming, a way to ensure our values live on.
But we understand how you may feel – our Legacy Campaign Officer is a former church leader who used to feel the same way.
We’ve designed Faith Will so that if you don’t feel comfortable talking about gifts in Wills you don’t have to. The easiest way to share Faith Will is to put our article in your church newsletter and order some free leaflets.
And if you want to go deeper, you can let us talk about it for you – that’s what Rev’d Jackie Vasquez did, she told us:
Faith Will has made it easier for us to talk about legacy giving here at St. John’s Ainsdale. We’ve used the resources, and we had a speaker come along from Christian Aid. Afterwards a gentleman told me that it had inspired him to leave a gift in his Will to Christian Aid and to the church. As Christians we’re taught to share with one another and especially with local or global neighbours who may be struggling. I love the fact that Christian Aid comes to support people in crisis, and gifts in Wills can support that work as well as the work of the local church.
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Invite a Christian Aid speaker to your service or event and explore how legacy giving can make a lasting difference.
What about restricted gifts?
We sometimes hear that church leaders are reluctant to mention gifts in Wills because they are concerned about issues with restricted gifts.
As most people who leave a gift to the church won’t tell you in advance, not talking about gifts in Wills won’t prevent people from making these gifts. Fortunately, there are things that you can do.
Church of England Giving Advisor Anna Hardy has some advice:
'Although we can’t predict when we might receive a gift from a will, it is worth thinking ahead about how your church ministry could benefit from a large donation. It’s natural to think about using significant gifts towards building projects, but if the gift is unrestricted, investing funds in growing God's Kingdom can be uplifting and inspiring for everyone in the congregation. Being prepared for this conversation, can prevent you from reacting spontaneously to a generous gift and restricting it unnecessarily.'
It can help to adopt a legacy policy. They are simple documents which designate key areas for legacy gifts to be used: e.g. buildings, community work etc. You can then encourage the church to leave a gift to one of those areas, or to keep it unconditional. You can download our advice on adopting a church legacy policy. Anna adds:
'It is tempting to restrict a gift left in our wills to something specific, but ideally, we would leave it unconditionally. This gives the PCC of the future the power to spend it wherever the need is greatest; on something we cannot predict at the time of writing our Will.'
For example, aren’t Wills a private matter, or what if people have already written their Will. You can find answers to these and more in our Q&A.
Writing our Will and ensuring that our nearest and dearest are taken care of can bring peace of mind.
Many Christians like to ensure that their church and the causes they care about are also remembered. Retired vicar, Rev’d Roger Gayler has left a gift in his Will to Christian Aid and introduced Faith Will to the parish where he now worships. Roger reflects:
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Making a Will is like planting a forest. You can sow seeds across your interests and concerns by remembering them in your Will. Christian Aid’s Faith Will resources can help your congregation to think about where they want to plant their seeds. They encourage church members to think of their own family, their church family, and their global neighbours. Just like planting a tree, the promise of gifts in Wills is for the next generation. Faith Will can help your congregation to consider how their gifts can help communities near and far to flourish.
