Expanding the Light: Estate Planning and the Lakewood United Methodist Church Endowment Fund
Jesus said it first: You can’t take it with you. He told us to store up our treasure in heaven, but most all of us try to store up as much as we can right here. And when we have run with perseverance the race set before us, and go to that great cloud of witnesses, we leave that hard-won treasure behind.
Our Legacy
The wealth we accumulate in our lives survives us and becomes part of our legacy -- like our children, our reputation, the stories of our lives, the memories of us. Unlike the other parts of our legacy, though, our wealth is a tool to be used.
One way that we can steward our wealth well is by creating an endowment fund for Lakewood UMC.
These are gifts to the church that are invested to generate a perpetual return without touching the principal, giving Lakewood UMC financial stability and the ability to meet changing needs far into the future. The typical gift to the Lakewood endowment fund is as part of an estate, either designated in a will or by the heirs in honor of a loved one.
Typically, we hear about endowments naming buildings on university and hospital campuses, but creating an endowment is not just for the rich and famous, or for spectacularly popular causes splashed across social media. Regular people create endowments to honor their loved ones and help ordinary – but special -- organizations like Lakewood UMC!