Stewardship : Planned Giving

Meet Our Donors

Miss Naomi Norman and Mrs. Blanche Maxwell
A foundation of friendship

They laid a foundation of friendship. Many years later, they have ensured that foundation would last long into the future.

Miss Naomi Norman and Mrs. Blanche Maxwell are sisters who first began making gifts to Christian Theological Seminary in 1985 when Dr. Richard Dickinson was the president of the seminary. As lifelong members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), they were first drawn to support CTS because of its association with the church. In time, they came to know many of the people who worked and served at CTS, particularly Dr. Dickinson.

“It has been through our association and friendship with Dr. Dickinson that we continue to support CTS,” says Naomi. The late president was a regular visitor to their home.

Another regular visitor is Ann Updegraff Spleth, CTS’s Vice President for External Affairs. “During one of my visits with the sisters, they told me they were considering moving from the house they shared into a retirement community. In order to do this, they needed to maximize their income from their investments,” he says.

While visiting with a CTS staff member, the sisters shared that they were considering moving from the house they shared into a retirement community. In order to do this, they needed to maximize their income from their investments.

As they talked about how to make the move, the sisters told CTS that they both owned shares of the same stock and the return on the stock had been very poor. CTS suggested that Naomi and Blanche consider giving the stock to CTS as gifts and converting the value into two joint gift annuities. By doing so, they:

• Increased their monthly incomes more than seven times
• Guaranteed the monthly income from the joint annuities for the rest of their lives
• Avoided the capital gains tax they would have incurred had they sold the stock
• Claimed generous charitable gift deductions, not only for the tax year in which they made the gifts, but for the next five tax years

The sisters’ dedication to CTS will be forever sealed when the annuities reach maturity. At that time, any remaining funds will be placed in an endowed scholarship fund to benefit CTS’ students in perpetuity, ensuring that the sisters love of CTS and dedication to its mission will be manifest long after they have gone.

There are many ways to structure a financial gift to CTS so that its benefits touch as many people as possible. Ann Updegraff Spleth can help donors of all kinds explore these options. Contact Wayne at (317) 931-2319 or auspleth@cts.edu.

Margaret and Bishop Sheldon Duecker

Imagine a time when candy was a penny, Gene Kelly was Singin’ in the Rain, and attending seminary cost just a few dollars for the registration fee. That’s what Bishop Sheldon Duecker remembers as he discusses Christian Theological Seminary.

Without the help of a full scholarship, Duecker says attending seminary would have been a struggle for him. For this reason, he and his wife Marjorie established a named endowed scholarship with CTS, in addition to other generous contributions they have made to the seminary.

“A lot has changed since then,” he says. “My wife and I wanted to give a gift that would allow other students the same opportunity. That’s why we’ve tried to support CTS in a regular and substantial way. It’s a way of giving back.”

Because an endowed scholarship is an investment that generates income for additional  scholarships through its interest, Duecker sees it as a gift that keeps on giving.

He gives credit to his education at CTS for shaping his outlook and helping him to become more aware and sympathetic of the ecumenical  movement and Christian unity.

Fellow CTS alumnus Joe Kipfer agrees. While the two worked together at the North Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church, Kipfer says Duecker was great to work with. In fact, he says, people often wondered what went on in staff meetings because they appeared to be having so much fun.

Seminary prepared him for his ministry, and especially for his most enjoyable positions as pastor for various churches, Duecker says. Since earning a bachelor of divinity and a master of arts
from what was then the Butler School of Religion, Duecker held many positions within the United Methodist Church. In addition to serving on a number of councils and authoring several publications, throughout his ministry, Duecker served as bishop for the Chicago Area of the United Methodist Church, and led several churches in Indiana, including Gethsemane United Methodist Church, in Muncie, where he was the founding pastor and helped grow the congregation to more than 700 members.

“Bishop Sheldon Duecker epitomizes what CTS sees as the aim of theological education: the formation of leaders, who in partnership with God, work to transform the world through their faithful service,” says CTS President Rev. Dr. Edward Wheeler. “Bishop Duecker has been faithful to God, faithful to the Church, faithful to himself and faithful to his alma mater through his prayers and financial support.”

In Memoriam
Opal F. Murray

August 4, 1906 – June 23, 2006

Opal Murray never visited Christian Theological Seminary. In fact, she never traveled more than 30 miles from her home in Washington, Indiana. But she left a lasting legacy on the world, and especially on CTS.

Murray’s generous gifts to the seminary throughout her life, as well as a final bequest, funded an endowed scholarship in her and her husband Paul’s names, which will continue supporting the education of our students studying in parish ministry for many years to come.

Opal’s generosity was not limited to CTS. At her church, she used to pass around the baby shoe of her daughter who had died in infancy. She took the money placed in the shoe and sent it to a children’s home in St. Louis, Missouri.

While Opal insisted on donating to CTS in anonymity while she was alive, it is our great pleasure to now honor her memory for all those lives she touched and for the impact she will continue to make.

Contact:
Jen Knuckles Stafford
Director of Annual Giving
Phone: (317) 931-2315
Email: jstafford@cts.edu