Gifts and Donations
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Gifts from parishioners are the primary means by which the church receives the financial resources to carry out our mission. Your commitment helps the community of St. Francis to keep our commitments to celebrate the sacraments, to educate, and to rise to the occasion of meeting increased needs locally and in the world around us, being a Light in the darkness and making God's kingdom present in our world. Donations can take a variety of forms depending on their purpose and the church's needs. The major forms of giving to the church are:
Financial Pledging
At St. Francis, we depend on regular donations to meet our annual operating expenses and to support our outreach programs. The majority of these donations are provided as financial pledges. Your pledge is important to us because the total pledge figure is used as the basis of our operating budget. We will gladly welcome a new pledge at any time of the year. For more information, please contact the church office at stfranchurch@bellsouth.net .
If you would like to make a pledge online, you can go to the Plug In section of our website, and click on Stewardship Pledge.
You can print a pledge card from this page to be completed and returned to the church by mail. Pledge cards are also available on a table in the narthex, next to the front door of the church, or you can email the church office at stfranchurch@bellsouth.net , or call 205.988.4371 and ask to have a pledge card sent to you. Pledge payments can be made at any frequency (from weekly to a single annual payment) to suit the donor and are usually collected during the Sunday plate offering.
We also encourage you to consider paying your pledge by electronic banking, or by mailing a check, using the following address:
The Episcopal Church of St. Francis of Assisi 3545 Cahaba Valley Road Indian Springs, AL 35124Your pledge is a tax deductible gift. Quarterly Pledge Statements are issued to help keep you up to date on your giving.
In the fall of each year, during the Stewardship Pledge Drive, pledge cards are distributed and all parishioners are asked to prayerfully reflect on God's gifts in their lives as they make their pledge to the church for the upcoming year. We hope that all our members will pledge.
Here at St. Francis, we endorse the principle of tithing and encourage our members to strive toward this Biblical goal. However, we also acknowledge that we are entering 2009 with "the worst economy since the Great Depression." The days ahead present us with a special challenge. Given such uncertainty, we pray you will consider your giving to St. Francis as one of your priorities.
One-time Giving
On occasion, someone may choose to make a one-time gift to the church. Such gifts are tax deductible, and we will be happy to provide you with a tax receipt. If a gift is not designated for a particular purpose, it will go into the church's general fund.
Memorial Giving
When a church member dies, the church often receives donations in the memory of that member. The disposition of these accumulated gifts is a sensitive matter that is determined by the church and members of the bereaved family.
The church keeps current a list of possible projects for the family's consideration. These options are intended to make possible a comforting and appropriate use of the received gifts consistent with the life of the deceased member and the wishes of the survivors.
Planned Giving
This type of giving can take a variety of forms. The simplest and best known is a bequest to the church in the donor's will. Other forms include Life Insurance, Charitable Gift Annuities and Undisbursed Retirement Assets.
As part of sound financial planning, all parishioners are encouraged to have a will. St. Francis hopes that its members will consider contributing to the ongoing Christian mission of the church in their passing, just as they have during their lives. The Episcopal Church of St. Francis can be named as beneficiary on insurance policies or as a recipient of undisbursed retirement assets. The church can also be a partner in a Charitable Gift Annuity wherein the donor receives regular income during his or her life from the principal, with any remaining principal left to the church upon the donor's death.
These and other planned giving arrangements can have substantial tax benefits for the donor and the donor's estate. Those who wish to include St. Francis in their will, or to contribute through other types of planned giving, are urged to contact the church, either directly or through their attorney, to ensure that their wishes are clear and that the details of an eventual legal transfer of estate assets are properly arranged.