These gifts support your chosen ministry for years to come. With a permanent fund, you or your family establishes and names a permanent fund, and determines the charitable recipients. We create these funds with gifts of $1,000 or more.

Click here for more details about establishing and managing a permanent fund through the Christian Church Foundation.

A Family Legacy

“How can we best honor our grandparents?” was the question which Bernie and Georgia Meece’s six grandchildren were asking. These grandchildren had known all their lives how important the church was to their grandparents. They knew how important the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) was to their grandparents. That love and appreciation was passed down to them as the church became an important part of their entire family because of the love and mentoring of their grandparents. Bernie had died in 2008 and Georgia died more recently in 2021. Their legacy, of course, lives on in their memories but the grandchildren wanted to share that passion and find a way to add to the legacy of their grandparents. “Establishing a Permanent Fund in memory of their beloved grandparents made perfect sense” said Zone Vice President, Randy Johnson, who met with several of the grandchildren in a Zoom meeting to discuss this possibility. “What a special way this would be to honor these two special people and continue their grandparents’ legacy of faithful service to their Lord through the church which they loved.” The next challenge for Bernie and Georgia’s grandchildren was to decide which cause would best honor their grandparents. They finally decided upon the “Pension Fund of the Christian Church for Ministerial Relief” because loving and supporting ministers was so very important to Bernie and Georgia.

All the grandchildren are younger adults. At this stage of life, it is often difficult to find additional discretionary income for such a gift. It takes $10,000 for a permanent fund at the Christian Church Foundation to begin making distributions. But the grandchildren knew that they could begin contributing to the fund in any amount now and plan to add to it regularly for it to eventually reach the $10,000 threshold and begin making annual distributions in their grandparents’ memory. Maggie Archibald, one of those grandchildren and Communications Director for the Christian Church Foundation, reflected on the establishment of the fund saying, “When my cousins and I received our inheritance we knew that our grandparents would have wanted us to tithe it and we realized we could do more together than individually. So, we decided to establish a named permanent fund with the Christian Church Foundation. Our grandparent’s faith influenced and inspired many people over the years, and we hope this fund will continue to carry out their faithful legacy.”

The faith and generosity of Bernie and Georgia’s grandchildren has been rooted in a deep faith passed down through the generations. That generosity will now continue to bless the church and the church’s leaders for generations to come. Thank you to Elin, Maggie, Sarah, Elizabeth, Clayton and Kate. What a special way to honor the grandparents you love and continue their legacy of faith and service!