Clergy workshops help pastors plan

Foundation gives ‘nudge’ grants to pastors

Putting Your House in Order, clergy edition, gives pastors incentive for estate planning

“No one looks forward to doing this kind of planning ahead,” relates Rev. Linda Gastreich, “somehow it slips off the priority list.” She is speaking from experience about estate planning.

The Foundation’s Director of Development Laura Murphy understands the sentiment all too well. “Every pastor knows the story – when the inevitable comes and families are dealing with grief, the funeral, and the countless other chores surrounding a loss – families that have plans in place are in much better shape than those that don’t.”

“Clergy are in a position to give a huge gift to their church members by encouraging them to do necessary planning,” explains Murphy. “That is why the Foundation started the Putting Your House In Order workshops.”

While Murphy conducts workshops nearly every week in churches around the state, she didn’t stop there.  She knew from her own experience how helpful it was to do basic estate planning so that you could speak credibly with others about the process.  “This is SO important for pastors to understand,” says Murphy, “so we decided to offer a little nudge to our pastors.”

In August of both 2022 and 2023, the Missouri UM Foundation offered workshops specifically for clergy in every district.  “Since last year, we are seeing those clergy grants already making an impact,” says Murphy.  

As Rev. Gastreich, pastor at Grace UMC in Cape Girardeau, affirms “The $500 grant was the incentive we needed to make an appointment with the attorney and get our will done… Even though we are clergy and know firsthand that death is inevitable, I suspect most of us think …why worry about getting this taken care of now?”

Participants have also told Murphy that once they got to work, anxiety over the future gave way to relief and peace of mind for today.  They reported the materials in the Putting Your House in Order workshop provided much of what they needed to get organized and to make finding and meeting with an attorney a breeze. 

“I love what is happening,” says Murphy. “Pastors are now telling me that they are sharing their own experience of putting their house in order with their congregations—encouraging them to do the same! This kind of pastoral leadership is giving way to beautiful conversations among families and within the congregation about all sorts of gifts – and the legacies we leave behind.”  

For clergy that were unable to attend the last two Helping Clergy Plan Ahead: Retirement and Creating Estate Plans workshops, the retirement segment will be offered online on October 19^th at 7:30pm and an on-line Putting Your House in Order workshop will be offered on November 28^th at 6:30pm. 

Appointed clergy that attend both of these sessions will be eligible for the $500 clergy reimbursement grant toward their will/estate planning costs. More information and registration for both events can be found at mumf.org/events.