Summary: St. John’s Charitable Trust provides a way for members to designate “Planned Giving” gifts to support St. John’s Lutheran Church current or future ministries. Persons who have included St. John’s Charitable Trust for bequests, gifts, charitable annuities, life insurance policies or other financial distributions in their wills or estate plans and advises the church may become members of the Legacy Society (see below).

What: The St. John’s Charitable Trust is the recipient of members Planned and Current Giving to support St. John’s Lutheran Church ministries. The Charitable Trust formed in 1986 and continues to grow. In general, the trustees use income from investing the donated gifts received to help our ministries. The goal is creation of a large investment base to create more income to share with others, i.e. gifts that keep giving.

Who: A nine-member board, six elected by the congregation and three by position, Senior Pastor, Congregation President and Finance Ministry Team leader, manages the Charitable Trust. The board manages the investments and distribution decisions, promotion for gifts and the Legacy Society. The Trustees are:

Gregg McElroy, convener
Darrel Hartweg
Bob Denny
Richard Zich
John Gordon
Bud Davis
Senior Pastor Knight Wells
Congregation President Fred Peterson
Finance Ministry Team leader Greg Koester
Terry Stombaugh and Vernon Veal, assistants

Value: The Charitable Trust is valued around $400,000. Distributions are expected to be $20,000 to ministries in 2008.

Distributions: The Trustees follow an open giving formula that includes: community, seminary/college education, Mission Outreach, Worship & Music and “special church needs.” Recipient examples: Habitat for Humanity, Safe Harbor, Home Sweet Home, Seminary Education, College and Camp Scholarships, Lutheran Outdoor Ministry Camp, LSSI, Faith in Action, von Trapp concert, SJL Worship & Music and other church needs.

Why: Two key reasons can be given for the Trust: First, the Trust offers members a place specify donations [gifts] that continue to serve current and future ministries, i.e. keeps giving now and long after they pass. Second, distributions from the investment return on the gifts support varied and needy ministries.

Legacy Society: The Legacy Society includes those persons who have included and advised the church of plans to support St. John’s Charitable Trust with bequests, gifts, charitable annuities, life insurance policies or other financial distributions in their wills or estate plans. Gifts may be from living members as well as from estate planning. Members include those who have future plans and those who have given to the Trust now. All Society members are invited to the annual “Legacy Society” luncheon hosted by the Board of Trustees as a thank you for plans or gifts. Nearly fifty people are members now.

Please consider this way of supporting your church through Planned Giving now or later. If you have questions, please call the church office or any Trustees.