Legacies and giving in memory

Legacies are a wonderful expression of support for the ongoing life of the church community for future generations. Look around your church for gifts left by our ancestors. Through countless gifts in wills, donors have built and maintained our beautiful church buildings and sustained the ongoing mission of churches in our local communities.

For St Leonard’s Church in Streatham, a generous legacy meant they could extend their mission through music:  “Thanks to Mimi, children sing every month”.

Why should I have a will?

For nearly 400 years, the Church of England has encouraged its members to keep their wills up to date, as an expression of Christian generosity.

….let him then be admonished to make his Will… for the better discharging of his conscience, and the quietness of his Executors. But men should often be put in remembrance to take order for the settling of their temporal estates whilst they are in health….  The Minister should not omit earnestly to move such… persons as are of ability to be liberal to the poor. (Book of Common Prayer, 1662)

Making a will is a simple act of stewardship:

• it gives peace of mind to you, and takes a burden of stress and complication from family and friends;
• you can take care of your family and those you love;
• you can choose to make charitable gifts, to help future generations.

This thought-provoking article in the Church Times (October 2023) tells some stories of those who have recently written wills and why.

Read more about the many practical reasons why every Christian should have a will in this leaflet.

Write your will for free

We might know that it’s a good idea to write a will – but for many of us, it’s one of those things we never quite get round to doing!  Thanks to the Church of England’s partnership with Farewill, the UK’s favourite will writer, you can write your will for free, from home, in as little as 30 minutes.

Faith Will

The Church of England is part of this ecumenical project with Christian Aid, called Faith Will. Faith Will provides a focussed opportunity to have a conversation about legacies at your church. You can watch a short introductory video here; for more information please contact The Giving Team.

Encouraging legacies in your church: our three top recommendations:

1. Have a PCC legacy policy and tell the church about it. Many people will leave a gift in their will if they think their church will use it for worthwhile additional projects, not simply to fund operating costs. A legacy policy allows the PCC to prepare and discuss how they would wish to see a gift used; it’s a great way of starting a conversation.  See below for some suggested text.
2. Point people to Farewill. Most people will not know about this simple, free way to write their will, so you will be helping them tick this off their list. When you use Farewill, there is no obligation to leave a gift to the church, but you will be asked if you’d like to consider the church in their will – a timely reminder.
3. Seek a Parish Legacy Co-ordinator.  Having someone to take a lead makes a huge difference.  This leaflet gives more details, and shares a story about a parish who have been able to invest significantly in their building and mission, thanks to the sensitive and faithful contribution of their Legacy Co-ordinator.

A Legacy Co-ordinator – or anyone in the church! – can help:

• Ensure there is always literature available.

Legacy giving is something that people will be open to at different points in their life, so having useful and clear information available is key. Provide a leaflet in your church and information on your website. A Legacy Co-ordinator can be a sensitive and confidential point of contact for any questions.

St Peter’s, Limpsfield has this legacy leaflet which you could adapt, or you could make use of this Parish Resources template. See the leaflets listed below, or do get in touch: [email protected]. We can help you create leaflets for your church, advise or send you appropriate resources.

• Work with clergy to thank, honour and remember those who have given in this way.

In line with the wishes of families and loved ones, sensitively remembering and honouring those who have left gifts in wills is important.  Some churches do this within an annual service for All Saints Day or at another appropriate point in the church calendar.

This gives an opportunity to share stories of how these generous gifts have helped your church. Be inspired by this video about a gift that transformed a parish in Exeter Diocese.  Our blog post on Gillian Morley’s generous gift to our Diocese shows how this founded the Southwark Vision Development Fund.

Resources

We held two ‘Hopeful Hours about Legacies’ in autumn 2023, giving practical advice and encouragement to those wanting to start a conversation about legacies in their church.  Click here for the slides.

PCC legacies leaflet: decisions that will help the PCC (pdf, 265kB)

Leaflet for individuals about legacies: a gift for the future (pdf, 353kB).

Farewill leaflet: information about writing a will for free (pdf, 364kB)

Parish Legacy Co-ordinator: leaflet about how this role can support your church (pdf, 369kB).

A simple guide to writing your will (pdf, 469kB)

You can order more free legacy resources from the Church of England here.

For more information, see the Church of England legacy website.

This presentation was delivered at a workshop for Treasurers by the Church of England National Advisor for Legacies & Fundraising.

In memoriam gifts

Family and friends often wish to donate a gift to a church in memory of a loved one or friend, perhaps in the form of an item to beautify a church, or for use in worship or church activities. See this Parish Resources guide to encouraging and receiving ‘in memoriam’ gifts.