7 Reasons Your Church Should Offer Estate Planning Education
A friend once asked me a question I could not easily answer.
He was a physician who had recently sold his medical practice and completed his estate plan. The attorney and CPA who helped him were both Christians. They attended his church, served alongside him, worshiped with him, and had known him for years.
As he described the process, he paused and asked, “Why did neither of them encourage me to consider including my church in my estate plan?”
It was not that he felt pressured to give. He was genuinely surprised that no one had invited him to think about how his faith, values, family, and generosity might shape the legacy he would leave behind.
His question reveals a larger opportunity for churches.
Churches are often present for families after a loved one dies. Pastors officiate funerals. Friends bring meals. Small groups offer prayer. The church walks with people through grief, uncertainty, and loss.
But there is an opportunity to serve families long before that difficult day arrives.
Estate planning education helps people make thoughtful decisions while they are able to do so. It gives them a chance to care for the people they love, communicate their wishes clearly, prepare for unexpected circumstances, and consider the legacy they want to leave.
This is not primarily a fundraising strategy.
It is a ministry of practical care, biblical stewardship, and wise preparation.
Here are seven reasons churches should consider offering estate planning education.
1. It Helps Members Practice Whole-Life Stewardship
Biblical stewardship includes more than what we earn, spend, save, and give during our lifetime. It also includes how we prepare for the resources, responsibilities, and relationships we will one day leave behind.
Scripture reminds us that everything belongs to God and that we are called to manage what He has entrusted to us faithfully. We are created in the image of God. And God’s generosity to us cannot be outdone. Since we are in His image, His desire is that we are also generous. Generosity is not just what we “do,” but rather, who we “are.” Estate planning gives believers an opportunity to think prayerfully about their family, their possessions, their charitable priorities, and the legacy they want to leave.
For some people, this may include providing for children or grandchildren. For others, it may include supporting a church, ministry, or cause that has shaped their life.
The point is not that every person should make the same decision. It is that every person should have the opportunity to make a thoughtful one.
2. It Serves Families Before a Crisis Happens
Many people know they should create a will or update their estate plan. They simply have not gotten around to it. The process can feel complicated, expensive, or emotionally difficult. It is easy to put off until a health crisis, a major life change, or the death of someone close brings the need into focus.
A church can provide a gentle, helpful invitation before that happens.
Estate planning education does not replace legal counsel. But it can explain why planning matters, help people understand the kinds of questions they need to consider, and connect them with qualified professionals.
That is a meaningful service to families.
3. It Can Bring Clarity and Peace During Difficult Seasons
When someone dies or becomes unable to make decisions, family members may be left with important questions.
Who should make medical decisions? Who will care for minor children? What are the person’s wishes for their property, family heirlooms, or charitable gifts? Who has authority to manage financial matters?
Without a clear plan, loved ones may face confusion, delays, disagreement, and legal processes they were not prepared to navigate.
Every family situation is different, and state laws vary. But a thoughtful estate plan can help people communicate their wishes and reduce uncertainty for those they love. That peace of mind is valuable long before the documents are ever needed.
4. It Corrects the Myth That Estate Planning Is Only for the Wealthy
One of the most common misconceptions is, “I do not have enough to need an estate plan.” But estate planning is not only about wealth. It may involve naming guardians for minor children, choosing someone to make medical decisions, granting financial authority if a person becomes incapacitated, clarifying end-of-life wishes, and making sure loved ones understand what matters most.
Even people with modest assets often have decisions that should not be left to chance.
Churches can help remove the stigma and confusion by making estate planning education accessible to people in every financial season.
5. It Creates Space for Legacy Conversations
Estate planning invites people to think beyond what they own. It opens a conversation about values, family, faith, generosity, and the kind of impact a person hopes their life will have after they are gone.
For Christians, that is a meaningful discipleship conversation.
A person may decide to leave a charitable gift to their church, a mission organization, or another ministry they care about. They may decide to create a legacy fund, support a scholarship, or provide for future ministry in a way that reflects their convictions. Those choices should never be assumed or pressured, but people deserve to know that charitable giving can be part of an estate plan if it aligns with their values and their care for family. A church can offer that education with humility and without manipulation.
6. It Meets a Real Need Across the Congregation
Estate planning is relevant to more than one demographic. Young parents may need to name guardians for their children. Adults caring for aging parents may need to understand health care directives and powers of attorney. Couples approaching retirement may need to revisit beneficiaries, retirement accounts, and charitable plans. Older adults may want to simplify decisions for their families and clarify their legacy.
A well-designed educational opportunity can serve people across life stages.
This makes estate planning a valuable ministry for the entire church, not just a program for high-capacity givers or older members.
7. It Strengthens a Culture of Care, Trust, and Generosity
When a church offers estate planning education, it communicates something important: We want to help you prepare wisely for life, not simply ask you to give.
That posture builds trust.
It shows that the church cares about members’ families, wishes, responsibilities, and long-term well-being. It also creates a natural setting for discipleship around generosity and legacy. As people become more confident about their plans, some may choose to include their church or other ministries in their estate plans. Others may not. Either way, the church has served them well.
Generosity should be a response to God’s grace, not the price of receiving care.
How to Begin
You do not need to become an estate-planning firm to offer this ministry. If you’d like to offer a special ministry that is a fit for your entire congregation, regardless of where they stand financially or spiritually, the ministry of FPM might be your answer. Rich, poor, or somewhere in the middle, we will all one day pass from this earth. FPM has a ministry to serve your entire church (including your staff and elders).
Estate planning education is a way to help people care for the ones they love, steward what God has entrusted to them, and make decisions that reflect their faith and values.
That is a ministry worth offering.
GUEST AUTHOR
D. Clay Perkins, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President, FPM
Clay@FPM.org
Christian Stewardship Network
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