Eastern North Dakota Synod

1. To educate and motivate each member to plan, prepare and have a will drawn up by legal counsel.
2. To help members learn estate planning methods which will help maximize benefits for themselves and their heirs.
3. To encourage gifts to the ministries of the church which are planned and coordinated with the members’ objectives.

What topics will be covered?

1. Stewardship as responsible management of accumulated resources.
2. Tax laws affecting estates.
3. What happens if a person does not have a will?
4. Importance of choosing guardians, personal representatives, trustees.
5. What are trusts, who are they for, and how do they work?
6. Ownership of property and its effect on estates.
7. Ways to plan gifts to your heirs that share your values and meet their needs.
8. Ways to consider giving gifts to favorite ministries.

How do we organize the program?

1. Have the church council approve a “Wills, Estates and Gift Planning Seminar” for your congregation. Make clear that this program opens up a new avenue to your members to give support for the ministries of the church.
2. Appoint a chairperson who firmly believes in the value of this program. This person then enlists 3 to 4 persons to work with them.
3. The committee, with the pastor, implements the program promotion and arrangements as called for in the publicity packet provided by the Planned Giving Partnership for the Eastern North Dakota Synod of the ELCA. This process can take 2-4 months.

What are the first steps I should take?

Contact Julie Johnson, Coordinator for the Planned Giving Partnership at the Eastern North Dakota Synod office for the ELCA for answers to any questions you may have about the format or scheduling of the seminar. Samples of printed materials are included in the Publicity Packet.

» Download: 3 Reasons to Host a “Wills, Estates, and Gift Planning” Seminar (download .pdf file)