Legacy resources for your congregation

Many people want to leave a meaningful legacy that reflects their faith and values. Churches can play an important role by creating space for these conversations and providing clear, accessible information about how gifts in Wills can support the life and mission of the church.

Here are some simple ways churches can share information about legacies in sensitive ways:

  • Include a brief message about legacies in your congregation's stewardship materials or church newsletter.
  • Display leaflets in your entry or welcome area (printed leaflets can be ordered from the stewardship team at stewardship@churchofscotland.org.uk
  • Add a page or section to your church website explaining how to leave a gift.
  • Share a legacy story during a service or include prayers that reflect gratitude for past and future gifts.
  • Adopt a local legacy policy to give clarity and confidence to potential donors.

This page highlights tools to help churches do all of this, including guidance on writing a legacy policy and free campaign resources from Faith Will, a UK-wide partnership involving the Church of Scotland and Christian Aid.

Developing a legacy policy

Our supporters will be more likely to consider leaving a gift in their Will if they know that their church will use it for special work and projects, rather than normal running expenses. Having a local legacy policy in place allows Kirk Sessions to consider how they would use such a gift in a way that benefits the church and honours the donor. This can help to reassure those who may be considering leaving such a gift.

Kirk Sessions are therefore encouraged to agree a policy on how potential legacy income will be spent, and to communicate this to the congregation and wider community. It is advisable to discourage restricted gifts since the needs of a church will change over time.

An example legacy policy which churches can adapt for their own needs.

At St Andrew's Church, we welcome all gifts in Wills, however large or small, and we promise to use your gift to make a difference in our parish. Our legacy policy is to [eg use gifts to help fund significant development projects, whether mission, staff, equipment or buildings].

Since needs change over the years, we encourage you to leave a gift in your Will for the general purposes of the congregation rather than for a restricted purpose. We will discuss possible uses of your gift with your executors when the time comes, bearing in mind your known areas of interest in the church and the church's priorities at the time.

You can be confident that your gift will be used to make a real difference to our future mission and ministry.

We will acknowledge gifts in whatever way the donor and/or his/her executors feel most appropriate. If preferred, we can make sure that gifts remain anonymous.

If you would like to talk to someone in confidence about the sorts of purposes your gift might fund, and how you would like your gift to be acknowledged, please contact:

Name: ______________________________________

Contact Details: ______________________________

If you would like to make a gift to our church in memoriam, please discuss this with us too. It can be a wonderful and appropriate way to remember a loved one.

More information

A leaflet detailing how members of your congregation can leave a legacy to your church is available in digital form.

To request the leaflet, please contact the stewardship team at stewardship@churchofscotland.org.uk.

Faith Will

The Church of Scotland has partnered with Christian Aid and other UK churches to launch Faith Will—an initiative encouraging people of faith to consider the lasting impact of leaving a gift in their Will to both their local church and to Christian Aid.

Faith Will offers free, flexible resources to help congregations talk more confidently about legacy giving. These materials can be used at any time of year and are designed to suit a wide range of worship styles. Churches can also book a speaker to help lead a conversation on how gifts in Wills can support local ministry and global justice.

Explore the full range of Faith Will resources at [Faith Will | Christian Aid].