Miami, Florida, United States…[Libna Stevens/IAD]
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Inter-America continues to face many challenges, but from each challenge comes a new set of strategies. One such challenge presently facing the church is how to best educate and motivate the membership in planned giving, investment, and the preparations of will and trusts for the benefit of their family and work of the church.
Two years ago, the leadership of the Inter-American Division appointed a director, Pastor Balvin Braham, to head the Planned Giving and Trust Services [PGTS] department to help educate members on such issues.
According to Pastor Braham, the department formerly known as Trust Services was dormant for a number of years.
“This [Planned Giving and Trust Services] department is considered a sleeping giant in our church because many of our people are not properly informed,” explains Pastor Braham. “This is a program that enables the church to attract or receive large gifts financially which are non-tithe funds.” These funds may “be utilized for special projects, capital development and operational programs,” he says.
For the last two years, Pastor Braham has traveled the IAD territory giving seminars and giving out material dealing with planned giving and trust services. The need for a greater impact in the IAD prompted him to work closely with the office of PGTS at the General Conference Headquarters to establish a certification curriculum program to offer to the regional directors throughout the division territory.
More than 70 church leaders and PGTS directors received their first certification during a four-day intense training seminar held at the IAD Headquarters in Miami, Florida, June 25-28.
Church leaders in attendance were able to learn the objectives of the PGTS department, concepts on property, principles of estate planning, strategic planning of the department and marketing, as well as denominational policies and more.
The 22-credit hours training was the first of two levels which provided the basic lessons that will enable PGTS directors throughout Inter-America to possess a better understanding of the mission of department, available implementation strategies and available possibilities in improving the income and value of their personal and organizational estates, according to Pastor Braham.
With this first certification program done, says Pastor Braham, PGTS directors at Inter-America’s major regions will be able to pass on the training to the local region and to local churches.
“One of the greatest challenges is to change people’s perception and educate,” says Pastor Braham. “The challenge is getting the message across, a clear message on what planned giving and trust services.”
Although Pastor Braham says that the initial certification is a strong starting point to the large challenge, PGTS directors need to work in their jurisdictions to learn the legals aspects of wills, trusts, annuities in their respective countries and territories.
For Rober Gomez, PGTS director for the Inter-Oceanic region in Mexico who attended the certification, the task of communicating to the more than 161,000 church members in the 918 churches and congregations in the region has been somewhat slow but progress is being made.
“This is the time to plant,” Gomez says. “What we have begun doing is spreading the message of educating administrators, pastors and members.”
Gomez went on to say that by the end of 2006, some 50,000 flyers were distributed in churches on what personal planned giving and available options for wills, estates and the like in Mexico. Gomez adds that 50,000 more flyers will be passed out this year as well.
“Our challenge is to sell the idea to the local churches,” he says. “It is a new philosophy and we want members to know that there are many ways to help the church,” he adds.
Gomez says a manual will be made available to pastors so that they too can involve members to lead out in PGTS.
Educating the members will take some time, but Pastor Braham encourages church leaders to implement aggressive plans in their regions to wake the sleeping giant.
This “potential must be awakened in order for us to realize the rich benefits of needed resources to satisfy the existing demands in the lives of individuals and families as well as our churches, institutions and the Adventist organization in general,” says Pastor Braham.
For more information on Planned Giving and Trust Services for the church in Inter-America, visit www.interamerica.org.
