Leaving a legacy to your church
Leaving a gift in your Will is a wonderful way to support the future of your local church and leave a lasting expression of faith, hope, and generosity. The Church of England encourages gifts in Wills because they help churches continue their ministry, care for their communities, and maintain their buildings for future generations. While regular giving sustains the day-to-day work of the church, a legacy gift can provide opportunities that might otherwise be beyond reach.
Every legacy is different, but each one has the power to make a real and lasting difference. Whether large or small, a gift can help a church respond to local needs, improve its facilities, invest in young people, support worship, or strengthen its outreach. Many churches have benefited from gifts that have transformed their buildings, expanded their ministry, and enabled new opportunities to serve their communities.
How Your Gift Could Make a Difference
Church Buildings and Facilities
Church buildings are often at the heart of community life. Legacy gifts can help preserve these treasured places while making them more accessible, practical, and welcoming. A gift in your Will could contribute towards improved kitchen or toilet facilities, better access for those with disabilities, flexible community spaces, energy-efficiency projects, or essential repairs that protect the building for future generations.
Mission and Ministry
Many churches are seeking new ways to serve the people around them, particularly those facing hardship or isolation. A legacy gift could help fund outreach initiatives such as a community café, support for those experiencing homelessness, debt advice services, food projects, pastoral care programmes, or activities that bring people together and strengthen community life.
Children and Young People
Investing in children and young people helps build a vibrant future for the Church. A legacy could support a crèche, holiday club, after-school activities, youth projects, or family events. It might also help fund a dedicated Children and Families Worker or Youth Worker, enabling the church to develop long-term relationships with young people and support them as they explore faith and life.
Music and Worship
Music has enriched church life for generations and continues to inspire worship today. Gifts in Wills can help maintain and develop this important tradition by supporting choirs, musicians, and worship teams. A legacy might provide new music resources, choir robes, instruments, sound equipment, or contribute towards the restoration and maintenance of a church organ.
Illustrative Examples
| Legacy Gift | Potential Impact |
| £2,500 | Fund children's resources, choir music, or community outreach materials. |
| £10,000 | Improve accessibility, upgrade worship equipment, or launch a new community project. |
| £25,000 | Create a welcoming meeting space, refurbish a church room, or support youth work over several years. |
| £50,000 | Install new kitchen or toilet facilities, fund a significant building improvement, or establish a major outreach programme. |
| £100,000+ | Transform church facilities, enable substantial community development projects, or create a lasting investment in mission and ministry. |
A gift of any size can help ensure that your parish church remains a place of worship, service, fellowship, and welcome for generations to come. Through a legacy, your support can continue making a difference long after your lifetime, helping the church serve both its congregation and the wider community.
Parishes across our diocese have kindly shared their stories
- “Two legacies made possible our front entrance which has transformed our church.”
- “A legacy has enabled us to carry on with the re-ordering of our church.”
- “A legacy has enabled us to install the new glass doors which has had a huge impact on the life of the Church and its accessibility and visibility. The funding was also used to refresh our Choir Music Library and Cassocks as well as providing some new resources for our work with children.”
- “We had no hall, and the closest toilet was down a steep hill over a quarter of a mile away. Not only did this prevent socialising after a service it prevented some people from coming at all, even to their loved-one’s funerals. The legacy enabled us to put a toilet and kitchenette in the tower. This not only solved the aforementioned problems but enabled us to expand our mission in other ways – we have large numbers of people coming through our doors.”
For more information and help you can contact Jude Greenfield or read more on the Church of England’s Legacy website where you will find further information on leaving a legacy, example wording for your will, and resources to help prepare for a visit to your solicitor. You’ll also find real-life stories of how legacies have helped transform a church’s future.