HOW YOU CAN MAKE – 
A Lasting Gift to our Church

Dear Friends,
IN THE PAST, it has always been a great encouragement whenever someone has left a gift in his or her will to our Church. 
It’s their testimony to the faithful-ness, goodness and generosity of God and their thankfulness for the life of St Stephens. 
I want to encourage everyone in our church family, old and young, to make a will, review it regularly, and consider the difference a gift in your will could make. I’ve done so, and it’s given me great peace, joy and hope. Thank you.
Revd Lisa Wigmore –Vicar
Your Parish, Your Gift
MANY people give regularly to the mission and ministry of the parish. We are stewards of everything we own–not just our income–and gifts in wills are a natural part of that giving. 
They are a valuable and lasting way to invigorate the life of St Stephens and transform its future. 
St Stephens is very blessed with regular giving in various ways to the mission and ministry in Sound-well, one of which is money.
A gift in your will can be an ex-pression of your gratitude and thanksgiving towards God, and is a lasting way to ensure St Stephens Church is a continuing presence for future generations. 
The PCC has written a Legacy Policy confirming that, however large or small your gift, they will use it to make a real difference to our church.
Our Legacy Policy
THE POLICY of the PCC is to use gifts in wills to help fund signifi-cant development projects in the Parish. Since needs change over the years, we encourage church  mem-bers to leave a gift for the general purposes of the parish, rather than for a restricted purpose.
The PCC will discuss with ex-ecutors, if they want this, the most appropriate use of the gift in the light of current projects and the donor’s known areas of interest in the church (eg: children and youth, music, buildings, mission etc), and the church’s priorities at the time.
For further information, please visit www.churchlegacy.org.uk. 
If you prefer, you can also speak in confidence about gifts in wills with our Treasurer, Lorraine Sanderson on 0117 940 1829, or Rev Sandy Cooper, on 0117 967 2621.
3 simple steps
WE encourage every adult church member to:
1) Make a will and review it regularly.
2) Consider leaving a gift to our parish.
3) Request a free information booklet.

Previous gifts:
WE welcome all gifts in wills, how-ever large or small, and we promise to use your gift to make a difference in our parish. 
We have been very fortunate to have received a small number of such generous gifts in the past. 
● In 2017, for example, we were given a gift
to purchase a silver flagon for Communion wine, given in memory of Margaret Milkins. 
● In 2018 we received a generous legacy of 
£17,000 which was the exact figure of some major maintenance work required on our Church building. This gift was given as a thanksgiving to God for a life-time of blessing, and in honour of Albert Churchill.

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​SUGGESTED WORDING FOR YOUR WILL:
‘I give.….% of my residuary estate OR I give the sum of £…. (pounds only) free of all taxes to the Parochial Church Council of the parish of St Stephens Church, Soundwell in the Diocese of Bristol for its general purposes, and I declare that the receipt of an officer of the Parochial Church Council shall be a sufficient discharge to my executors and trustees.” 
We strongly advise you see a solicitor when writing or amending your will.