Endowments and a culture of giving

As the membership of Faith Lutheran Church in Dickinson considered their stewardship, creating an endowment was the next step, said Pastor Deb Grant. 

“Over the last several years, we have made steps toward good financial practices and careful stewardship; as an older congregation, trust of how money is spent and managed is a deep-seated value.”

The congregation paid off loans, paid all bills in timely manner, renegotiated insurance, stayed under budget in spending and re-built reserve funds.

“Those frugal practices were regularly shared with the congregation and their personal stewardship was strong. This led to a larger reserve than necessary. The ELCA Endowment Fund A was the right option at the right time.”

ELCA Endowment Fund Pooled Trust – Fund A enables collective long-term investment of funds belonging to the ELCA and affiliated ministries with distributions to support ministry.

At Living Word Lutheran Church in Katy,  “the vision of the Living Legacy Endowment is to create and foster a culture of giving that builds financial capacity for the future and leaves legacy gifts for the mission and ministries of our church,” explained Rick Carlson, chair of the fund’s board. “The goals are to provide funding for new and expanding ministries at Living Word, for assistance within our local community, and for church support of national and global missions.”

Lizbeth Johnson, the Synod’s gift planner, helps pastors, leaders and faithful church members explore endowments, gift annuities, end-of-life stewardship and other strategies. To schedule a meeting, contact Liz at lcjohnson@lfsw.org or (713) 775-1595.