When an elderly Alabama Baptist died last year, her will allotted for more than $140,000 of her asset earnings to go to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (LMCO) — per year.
It’s a contribution that would easily rank among the top five church gifts to LMCO in the state, said Barry Bledsoe, president of The Baptist Foundation of Alabama (TBFA).
“This is a personal example of a macro picture that could be going on all over the state,” he said. “Because of an estate plan she set up in the early 1980s, she was able to contribute that much. There wasn’t any doubt in her mind — it was a stewardship decision.”
And though her contribution was large in amount, the size is not as important as the fact that she looked at the distribution of her estate as an act of stewardship, Bledsoe explained. “Whether it’s $10 or $100 million, the concept is the same. Some have children, some don’t; some are wealthy, some aren’t; but the fact is that everything we own is God’s.”
This stewardship perspective is an outlook TBFA is now trying to teach state Baptist church members through the Carpenter’s Plan, a strategy that teaches biblical money management and offers free professional guidance for estate planning.
Since January 2005, TBFA has partnered with Thompson & Associates of Brentwood, Tenn., to bring the Carpenter’s Plan seminar into at least 14 Alabama Baptist churches, some on multiple occasions. The three-hour presentation — usually done on a Saturday morning — offers resources and information about debt management, creating wealth from a biblical perspective and biblically based estate planning.
Those present are then offered the opportunity to set up a confidential appointment for the following week with a Thompson attorney to discuss their estate plan.
“Ninety percent of a person’s ability to give is from estate assets, with only 10 percent from cash. Yet almost 96 percent of all gifts to Baptist ministry last year came from cash,” Bledsoe said.
“How you plan to leave your assets is an act of stewardship — the single largest stewardship act any of us will ever do. What if everyone considered that and didn’t do anything else but tithe their estates through their wills? We are talking about billions for the Lord’s work.”
From the churches that have participated so far, those who decided to draw up their estate plans as a result of the Carpenter’s Plan allotted for nearly $221 million in current assets. More than $54 million of this was earmarked for their local church, and nearly $20 million more was for other Baptist causes.
This being from a small number of churches compared to Alabama’s 3,200 Baptist churches, Bledsoe said the statistics are amazing and the possibilities are endless.
“When we consider that almost 70 percent of us will die without even a will in place, we understand the need for estate stewardship education, and the Carpenter’s Plan is one method to bring this information to the local church,” said Randy Driggers, TBFA vice president for development. “For the almost 30 percent that do have a will, statistics tell us that about 70 percent of us have it wrong.”
Driggers said with the Carpenter’s Plan, church members will not only hear what the Bible teaches about estate management but also form a “plan of action to take care of both family and faith.”
“The Bible teaches us to store up for ourselves treasure in heaven, and this is just one way to accomplish that,” he said.
Bledsoe said the seminar helps state Baptists assess what assets they have, the best way to provide for their family and the best way to promote the Lord’s work. The estate-planning portion of the seminar also helps them understand what Christian-based estate planning is, some ways Baptists can create legacies and how to maneuver within the tax code to not pay unnecessary tax expenditures.
“There is nothing wrong with paying taxes, but the Bible tells us to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but we are not to give excess to Caesar,” Driggers said. “I have seen fellow Baptists with fairly large estate tax issues facing them zero out the tax, and instead those dollars are now able to have an impact for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Ron Smith, a Thompson and Associates regional representative based in Birmingham, said he believes people procrastinate on getting their estate plans done because they don’t want to face their own mortality and don’t know what they should do or where to get the right help. “If we can educate Alabama Baptists on the options available to them and encourage them in this process, they can structure their inheritance in a way that will be constructive to their heirs.”
Morrell Dodd, church administrator for Hunter Street Baptist Church, Hoover, said, “[The] presentation is outstanding, their principles are outstanding and their biblical basis is right on target.”
Jay Wolf, pastor of First Baptist Church, Montgomery, said the Carpenter’s Plan is “full of Holy Spirit inspired common sense.”
“Common sense says we are to be good stewards and planners for when that day (of death) comes,” Wolf said.
First, Montgomery, participants have earmarked about $10 million from their estates for Baptist causes.
“It’s easy to go from an idea to a plan in an honest, nonthreatening environment,” Bledsoe said. “Many good, faithful Alabama Baptists who love the Lord and love the church have either never thought about it (estate planning) or didn’t know how to go about it.”
For more information, contact Driggers at 334-394-2001 or e-mail seminar@tbfa.org.
Share with others: