“The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life.”
Your life proclaims a commitment to the church you love, and your generous gifts to Austin Seminary glorify God. Beyond this life, how will you give shape to the future of the church and pave the way for the next Christian leaders? Roots & Branches is a new communication that we hope will inspire you to join with others who are supporting the future church through carefully considered estate plans.
Donor Chat
After many years of professional success in a variety of fields, both David Reed and Linda Whitworth Reed heard and responded to God’s call to ordained pastoral leadership by entering the MDiv program at Austin Seminary (he, in 1997 while in his mid-forties and she, in 2005 in her mid-fifties). John Alsup, Lewis Donelson, Cynthia Rigby, Bill Greenway, Ismael Garcia, Light German, Ted Wardlaw—the voices behind these names still ring in their minds as formational and foundational to their preparation for ministry and remain touchstones of inspiration. It’s the growing diversity of the faculty, along with the Seminary’s ever-expanding interaction with advanced technology, that most excites them about the institution today.
Curious about what led this charming and faithful pair to declare their intention to include the Seminary among the beneficiaries of their estate, Nancy Benson-Nicol, director of philanthropic engagement, visited with David and Linda to glean some insight. What follows is a snippet of that conversation.
Nancy: What moved you to make a planned gift to support the Seminary?
David: We’d both been big believers in planned giving at the churches we served, so we were sitting around thinking about it, and we thought, What matters in our life? and Austin College and Austin Seminary were the two places that had so much to do with who we are and, so, that’s how we came to it.
Linda: I know that institutions can do more innovative things and be braver in the way they proceed into the future when they know that there is some financial backing. Austin Seminary is an institution that we believe in, strongly … because it’s been so influential in our own lives; it’s shaped our own approach, [even as] we brought our own mature gifts to the experience. We knew that a seminary that is always struggling just to pay the bills is not going to be able to put as much into education, into the formation of students.
David: A seminary education prepares you—whether you serve as a pastor or in some other form of vocation—to be a better child of God … I’ve always found my roots in the proper integration of thinking and feeling. Presbyterians are really good at that, and, of course, the grace that abounds (most of the time) in most Presbyterian circles is so important. And Austin Seminary stands for that. There were professors who were very conservative in their thinking; there were professors who were very liberal; a lot of moderate-thinking professors—all of that. I’ve always learned more from people who disagree with me than who agree with me, and all of that was a really wonderful crucible in which to learn how to be an effective leader, but also just how to be a gracious child of God. Austin Seminary continues to do that. That’s why we want our resources to go your way.
Nancy: What advice would you offer to someone who may be reluctant to think about planned giving, as it requires them to contemplate what happens after they are gone?
Linda: First of all, I think this time of the pandemic has helped us to understand our time may be limited. The times of our loved ones may be limited. So, what step can I do today to leave a legacy for those who come behind, for those who come after me? And this is the most significant thing that David and I can do.
David: When you give a portion of your estate, it is more than just that portion. It can grow—it’s not just a one-time gift.
Linda: Because with interest, it keeps on giving. And we have also seen how the Seminary has been an excellent steward of the resources that it has, which gives us confidence in giving to the Seminary.
How do your legacy gifts grow the church?
Meet Austin Seminary student Kimbol Soques ...
Kimbol Soques from Austin Seminary on Vimeo.
Legacy Giving
"As you proceed with your estate plans, please tell us about any bequest decisions affecting Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. This will help ensure that we can honor your requests. It also helps our long-range planning efforts if we know where the future resources are being directed. Most of all, it gives us the opportunity to thank and honor you in advance, and to share with you the many ways that you will be glorifying God."
- Donna Scott, Vice President for Institutional Advancement
• Learn more about Legacy Giving ....
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The ChinaAid Association is a non-profit Christian organization - based in Midland, Texas - with a mission to uncover and reveal the truth about religious persecution in China, focusing especially on the unofficial church. They do this, they explain in their website, by exposing the abuses, encouraging the abused and equipping the saints to advance the kingdom of God throughout China.
