WHAT IS THE CHURCH OF THE SERVANT LEGACY FOUNDATION?
The Legacy Foundation was established in the summer of 2019 to develop a long-term financial endowment for Church of the Servant. While annual giving and pledges fund the many ministries of our congregation, this endowment will provide support for the life and mission of Church of the Servant into the future.
All of us are indebted to those who precede us. We drink from wells we have not dug. We stand on faith foundations we have not laid. At the same time, we seed the future for those who succeed us. We dream and envision and set things in motion, and the fruit of our decisions will be a legacy to those who follow us. Thus we act in faith with those who have gone before us and offer the best we have to those who will follow.
The Legacy Foundation enables members to give endowed gifts and donations for special church projects with confidence that their giving will support the long-term financial strength of Church of the Servant.
How will the funds be managed?
Church of the Servant has entered into a partnership with Barnabas Foundation, which will manage the funds on our behalf. Founded in 1976, Barnabas Foundation partners with approximately 800 Christian Reformed Church congregations and 200 other member ministries in the United States.
Since 1976, donors have designated more than $1 billion to philanthropic causes through the Barnabas Foundation. The Barnabas partnership enables members to give cash gifts or other contributions, such as stock, real estate, business interests, life insurance, retirement assets, charitable trusts and gift annuities that a church would not ordinarily accept or manage. Funds given to the Church of the Servant Legacy Foundation will be held, invested, and managed by Barnabas Foundation. We can be confident that the Foundation will manage and invest all gifts well.
How can I give?
You are invited to invest in the Legacy Foundation as a part of your philanthropic planning, whether now or as a part of your will and estate planning. We encourage all members and friends to make a legacy gift through their estate plan. Effective estate planning could help you limit tax liabilities and maximize your potential to give.
The Trustees will designate unrestricted gifts to areas of greatest need, or you can designate your gift to any one of five areas of ministry: Missions, Benevolence, Building, Ministries, and Christian Education. You may designate more significant gifts by planning them with the Legacy Foundation Trustees.
Trustees of the Foundation
The Church of the Servant Legacy Foundation has five trustees whose mandate is to develop the Foundation and connect with Barnabas Foundation. The Foundation trustees are Jon Bruss, Brian Huyser, Stacy DeRuiter, Claire Elgersma, Chuck Mast, and John Lichtenberg. They are available to discuss how you can support Church of the Servant through the Foundation.
For more information on including Church of the Servant in your estate plan or will, contact the church office at office@coscrc.org or 616-956-7611