One of the great gifts Staci and I received when we moved to Minnesota was the offer from a faithful Episcopalian at St. Stephen’s, who is an attorney, to update our will. During this significant transition for our entire family, it was a great opportunity for us to take stock of not only our present blessings but also how we wanted to share said blessings, and those yet-realized future blessings.

When I was a young camp executive director, I had the privilege of sharing my transformational camp story with a number of individuals and families as we began exploring rebuilding our aging facilities. The generosity of the response was overwhelming. Many gave from their present resources but a number gave of their future resources. It was in fact, a life insurance policy that took us ” over the top.”

As this last year was coming to a close, the Episcopal Church in Minnesota received a bequest valued at a little more than $1.2 million dollars. To say it was an early Christmas present is an understatement.  Earlier this week, we received the final check from this incredible gift.

The gift has been placed in your Pooled Investment Fund, and is already generating income for our operating budget. As a side note, I am happy to report that your Pooled Investment Fund has increased to over $25 million dollars as more and more of our faith communities pool their funds together.

Soon you will be hearing about ECMN making a greater commitment to collaborative youth ministry across the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. This is only possible because of one individual’s incredible generosity.

I am truly grateful to serve amongst a people who share their blessings with others — which in turn, always brings more blessings!