When a congregation makes the difficult decision to close its doors, it faces many challenging questions, but also many opportunities to create a lasting legacy of ministry. As churches embark on this complex process of closure and legacy creation, they need not do so alone.
The new 2025 edition of Living Legacy: Church Legacy and Closure Resource is now available! It’s a trusted guide with practical support, theological reflections, encouragement, checklists and examples to equip churches for this season of completing physical ministry and creating a legacy. This resource is vital for church leaders, members, trustees and interim ministers, as well as judicatory or national church leaders. Learn more and order your copy HERE.
United Church Funds (UCF) is a contributor to the Living Legacy Workbook and a trusted partner who can work directly with your congregation in the stewardship of legacy assets. Together, UCF’s experienced team can guide your church align its legacy assets with its values and vision for ministry for years to come.
Watch a brief video from Matt Wagner, UCF’s Vice President for Institutional Relationships, highlighting several key considerations for churches considering closure and legacy creation process.
To learn more about how UCF can help your church in this process, we invite you to reach out to our team at [email protected] or 877-806-4989, or visit www.ucfunds.org.
Here’s an example of one congregation that used the Living Legacy Workbook and worked with UCF through the transition of closure and exploration of funding ministry in new ways through its legacy assets:
In 2015, when the Congregational Church in Deerfield (Illinois) decided to transition from its current ministry, the governing council utilized the newly published Living Legacy Church Legacy & Closure Resource as an essential guide to lead our congregation through a healthy process of grieving and celebrating the church’s history and ministry. Connecting with staff at the UCC Church Building & Loan Fund and the United Church Funds provided a perspective beyond our local association and conference to preserve the congregation’s legacy of ministry and mission. A task force met regularly and crafted a Legacy Covenant to envision and fulfill the transition from an active ministry to one that would seed new projects and support existing ministries.
The expanded and user-friendly 2025 edition of the LLCL&CR updates demographic data and includes experiences gained during the succeeding ten years and the COVID-19 pandemic. Particularly useful are the footnotes, checklists, and appendices in the new edition.
Harriet Dart, Legacy Pastor, Congregational Church in Deerfield UCC