Hopes for Our Church HOPE Paul’s words about hope and patience continue to resonate generation after generation. They speak to our human condition and even our daily preoccupation. We have hopes for many things. Let’s pause and focus on our spiritual and religious life. What are your hopes? What are our hopes for the future of your church and hopes for the church of the future?

For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

How might you begin to patiently plan and invest for that future hope?

LEGACY GIFT A legacy gift is a truly inspiring act of hope that is available to most of us. It is giving to what we do not – or will not – see. Making a legacy gift is a way of investing in the dream of the future church that gives witness to our faith and our hope. As people of faith we acknowledge and celebrate in word and action the grace of God in our lives. Our generosity is poured out in many ways daily, weekly, yearly to the ministry in our congregation, the local church and through our denominational Mission and Service. Gifting a future generation through a legacy gift is a further extension of that generosity.

THE FUTURE

It is a cliché that we live in a time of unprecedented change. Our church may not look the way it does now in five or ten years and certainly not in 25 or 50 years. But that has always been the nature of change. For example, church architecture has changed in ways that would make our forebears scratch their heads but – Romans 8:24-25 makes much more sense to our understanding of God in these times. What we sing and how we praise our Creator changes frequently. The examples are infinite. However, some aspects of church remain constant across centuries and millennia. We worship and give thanks to our Creator for blessing us so richly. We respond to this generosity by serving the needs ‘of the least of these’ in our own communities and globally. Worship, gratitude and service are accomplished in ways appropriate for our time. Each has changed and is changing.

LEGACY GIVING Continuing to make this possible in new ways for new times is why Legacy Giving giving is an important element within your stewardship ministry. Hoping for an unseen future which is true to our tradition of thankfulness and service is at the foundation of legacy giving. A Legacy Giving program offers the means for you and members of your community to respond to your hopefulness and commitment or our Church’s worship and service for decades and years to come.

The United Church of Canada L’Église Unie du Canada Philanthropy Unit • 1-800-268-3781 [email protected] • www.united-church.ca The United Church of Canada Charitable Number 10810 2435 RR0003 • The United Church of Canada Foundation Charitable Number 8631 09021 RR0001