Saturday, June 13, 10 am
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86836429728
We are reaching the last of our Last Wishes Workshops, and with it the last set of tasks related to preparing for our deaths in a healthy and holy way: wills, trusts, and legacy giving.
This series has led us to gently confront the fact of our own mortality, and to take a measure of control over the particulars of our end of life.
None of us will live forever, but there is one way our lives can have meaning and purpose long after our deaths: legacy giving. Legacy giving is the act of leaving resources to a cause you care about in your will or estate.
Just this past year, First Church has received bequests from three beloved elders: Margie Coates, Cordelia Jacobs and Mitsie McKenna. Even though Mitsie had not come to church for years due to frailty and illness, her gift took us all by surprise with its overwhelming generosity: over $100,000! It is a testimony to openhanded grace and trust that even years after she was able to personally benefit from most of the privileges of membership, Mitsie kept faith with us.
Currently, 25 members of our community have committed some part of their estate to First Church Berkeley when they die (there may be more who have chosen to keep this decision private). The ones listed below have given us permission to list their names, not to celebrate them, but to inspire others to the same foresight and generosity.
Legacy gifts offer the church a financial stability that allows us to experiment, adapt, stretch and grow. They honor the church’s past, but also provide for its dynamic future.
Do you want all you have worked for and built to keep working for others after you are gone? You can learn how to become a legacy giver by attending this Saturday’s final workshop. It will be led by Rev. Andy DeBraber, philanthropy officer of the United Church of Christ and a friend to our church, along with SF&A co-chairs Amy Hiestand and Nick Kukulan and Rev. Molly.
Thank you to our current legacy givers!
Molly and Peter Baskette
Mollyanne Brewer
Mike Casendino and Amy Hiestand
Patricia de Jong
Bonnie and Bob Hester
Kathy and Bob Helliesen
Carmelle Knudsen
Nancy McKay
Lewis Perry
Phil Porter
Ann and Boyard Rowe
Rebecca Smith
Bruce and Susan Stangeland
John and Helen Wadman
Moe and Becky Wright