Rod Marshall, president of the Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries, will never forget the day the executor of Herman and Janie Ensor’s estate slid a folder across the desk to him. Inside the folder was notification that the entire estate of the Ensors was being given to ABCH.
“This represents the legacy of the Ensors, and they are entrusting it to you. Be careful what you do with it,” the executor told Marshall. Herman Ensor was a Cullman physician, and he and his wife had no children.
In the years since, ABCH has been very careful. The gift was utilized to build the Ensor Cottage and a multipurpose duplex on the ABCH Decatur campus to house children, with the remainder of the estate gift placed in the ministry’s endowment. The Ensors’ only wish was that the amount of their gift never be disclosed.
“What an incredible legacy that is for them,” Marshall said of the Ensors, “and it speaks volumes of their desire to continue the Kingdom work they began in their lifetimes. But it’s also a huge responsibility on our part to use that money wisely in ways that will serve more children.”
Advancing the kingdom
ABCH is among the many Christian ministries that benefit from believers giving a portion of their assets upon death. Each year, more than 10% of the ABCH budget comes from estate giving. ABCH leaders encourage every believer to bless one or more ministries by including the Lord’s work in their wills. By doing so, followers of Christ can use their money to advance God’s Kingdom beyond their lifetimes, says ABCH chief administrative officer Chip Colee.
“It’s all God’s,” Colee said. “We’re just little managers and want to make sure we pass the legacy of giving on to future generations because it’s just not mine.”
Believers of all ages should participate in estate giving, Colee said. Younger adults sometimes fall prey to the idea that they don’t have an estate to give.
“It’s never too early to think about that and act on it by making a plan,” he said.
Benefits
At least two factors should drive Christians to estate giving, said Rodney Bledsoe, director of ministry engagement at The Baptist Foundation of Alabama. First, their assets can further ministry after they die. “It’s fun to see our Alabama Baptists connect those dots,” he said, “because then those good stewards are really able to leverage what God’s blessed them with for Kingdom impact after they’ve gone to be with Jesus.”
Second, estate giving has tax benefits. Most people won’t achieve the multimillion-dollar estates required to owe estate taxes. But if a person’s children take their inheritance in a lump sum, up to 40% of it could be due to the federal government in income taxes. Estate giving to ministries “can reduce that amount that’s going to the IRS,” Bledsoe said.
As Marshall puts it, “If someone were to die with no estate plan, then they have chosen the federal government as their favorite charity, and they will pay pretty significant taxes on their estate, whereas if they have a well-thought-out, well-constructed estate plan, then they have the potential for their legacy to be Kingdom work.”
How to start
The process for including ministries in a will is simple. Any Alabama Baptist can contact The Baptist Foundation of Alabama to begin their estate planning process. They will receive guidance on tax implications and the best way to transfer assets to loved ones. Then an informal network of attorneys around the state will help draft a will and accompanying legal documents, generally for a fee of $500–$1,000.
The last step is to sit back and trust God to use the assets for His purposes and in His timing.
That’s exactly what Tom and Sharron Watkins have done. Mobile-area residents, the Watkinses had done well in business and wanted to advance the Lord’s work. With the Foundation’s help, they established a scholarship fund to help Christians attend college to pursue their callings in life. After the Watkinses’ death, that fund will continue helping Christian college students.
“God has brought us through a lot,” Tom Watkins said. “We have a lot that God has loaned us, so we have to be responsible.”
Bledsoe asks believers to consider the moment they stand before Jesus following death.
“When we step from this life to the next and we’re in front of King Jesus, it is at that point that the last (estate) gift would be made,” he said. “And then we would be answering for it. That’s a pretty powerful thought.”
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