March 2012

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Ensure strong church leadership for future generations

Gordon and Dee Sprenger recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with their family, which includes 12 grandchildren. In their years together, the Sprengers have given everything to their family—including ensuring a legacy of good preaching.

The Sprengers believe Luther Seminary prepares the kind of future church leaders who impact theological education throughout the world. Because of this, they give through a combination of cash gifts and deferred giving, most notably through the Sprenger Endowed Fund for Excellence in Biblical Preaching.

"Lutherans identify preaching second only to communion as the most valuable part of worship," Gordon said. "The question is, what's going to captivate the next generation? What's going to ensure that the church will remain strong and vibrant in the next generation?"

Planned gifts support the future of the church

By making a planned gift, you, like the Sprengers, can make a long-term commitment to support Luther Seminary and its mission to educate leaders for Christian communities.

Common gifts include:

• Tax deductible cash or assets
  
• An estate gift
  
• A charitable gift annuity
  
• A charitable lead trust
  
• Named beneficiary of retirement benefits

For the Sprengers, making a long-term commitment through planned giving ensures their grandchildren will hear good preaching.

"We want to share our faith and love of the church with future generations," Dee said. "We hope that our planned gift plays some small part in providing the opportunity for our grandkids and other future generations to really hear the gospel preached and through that become very committed and Christ-like people in their spiritual and daily lives."

By contacting the Office of Seminary Relations, you can determine what type of gift best fits your charitable giving goals. For more information, visit www.luthersem.edu/plannedgiving or contact John Kilbride at 888-358-8437 or jkilbride001@luthersem.edu.