A Super Saturday

By: Richard Carnes 

Recently, I had the privilege to participate in the first of four Super Saturday training conferences for all the local church ministry segments, including: discipleship, preschool & children, Sunday small groups, Woman’s Missionary Union, worship and music, youth ministry, and the list goes on. This tremendous conference is coordinated by the Kentucky Baptist Convention Mission Board staff.

I enjoyed the great opportunity to meet with the church treasurers that attended the session on Conducting the Financial Business of the Church. This session was facilitated by Don Spencer, the KBC’s Director of the Church Financial Benefits department and Tom Adkisson, the principal partner of a local CPA firm. The informative session provided valuable subject matter for the local church treasurers on the topics of Charitable Contributions, Handling Money in the Church, Basics of Financial Support for Ministers, and Federal Reporting Issues.

It was also my pleasure, as a part of the session, to speak with the treasurers on how the Kentucky Baptist Foundation can assist local churches to bridge the gap to secure the financial future of their ministries. Many people are surprised to learn that churches are the most overlooked charities in estate stewardship and legacy giving support. Actually, this reality should not be a surprise when we recognize the average person’s net worth consists of 9% in cash and 91% in non-cash assets (home equity, life insurance, retirement assets, business assets, and savings.) Most churches’ appeals and education on financial support focus on the 9% cash of the person’s net worth and ignore the remaining 91% of the person’s assets.

The Kentucky Baptist Foundation helps bridge this gap for churches by educating church members on the value of having an up-to-date Christian estate plan to address the 91% of a person’s assets. We provide this educational support to church members through a variety of estate stewardship seminars on how to accomplish their Christian estate planning objectives.

The Kentucky Baptist Foundation staff is also available to assist you by providing private estate stewardship consultation. You may contact the Foundation’s trust counsel, Laurie Valentine, or me at our toll-free number (866) 489-3533.

Richard Carnes is president of the Kentucky Baptist Foundation, P O Box 436389, Louisville, KY 40253; toll-free (866) 489-3533; KYBaptistFoundation.org.

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.