It's All About Stewardship

Will & Estate Planning

God has appointed each of us as stewards over all assets, both cash and capital, that He has entrusted to us. This means that estate planning could be the single most significant act of stewardship we will ever undertake. At some level we understand that one day we will stand before the Lord and give an account of what we did, not with 'our' stuff, but with His.

At its core, estate planning comes down to determining how we will allocate the stewardship of all He owns among the only three destinations possible: (1) people we love, such as children; (2) ministries/churches that have been important to us; and, (3) the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and/or provincial tax authorities.

Many people are generous givers throughout life but, when it comes to creating a will, they go into a lawyer's office and, in less than an hour, make plans to give it all away. Such important decisions require more diligence than that. It is a lawyer's responsibility to ensure our assets will be distributed as per our wishes. It is not necessarily their job to determine if those wishes would align with good stewardship principles. Those decisions should be prayerfully considered. That is what an "estate plan" is; planning out ahead of time what should be included in our will and to whom it should be given.

The question is then, what does a Christian estate plan look like? Should it look any different? We believe it should. We need to be as thoughtful and as good a manager of God’s resources as we are passing them over as we were when alive and well.

New Partnership

Crandall University’s Planned Giving office is pleased to announce our new partnership with Advisors With Purpose.

Advisors With Purpose is part of the family of ministries of Financial Discipleship Canada. They are committed to serving donors and charities by providing specialists who can help donors through a strategic estate planning process. Free guidance from their advisors will not only be biblically sound but strategic with regard to tax implications and advantages.

We invite you to work with our partners at Advisors With Purpose to make important decisions and help you create a plan for your Will that truly reflects you, your family and the things you care most about. Should you have questions about this new partnership with Advisors With Purpose phone Gilda Ryder, Director of Development and Planned Giving at 506-863-6444.

Mrs. Gilda Ryder ('83, '03), Director of Development and Planned Giving has served in various capacities since 1983. She is married to and serves alongside her husband, Scott Ryder, at West Lane Baptist Church. They are the proud parents to Andrew ('17) and Caleb.