Barnabas Foundation Church Podcast

Your completed estate plan includes a variety of people who will carry out your wishes and become the next stewards of your God-given resources.

Listen as Barnabas Foundation’s Adam Lopez, J.D., discusses how to define the recipients and stewards of your estate to make the greatest impact.

Listen as Barnabas Foundation’s Jim Bakke, J.D., discusses how lifetime giving options can benefit your members’ favorite Kingdom causes while caring for the needs of their families.

Please note: If you'd like to share video and audio recordings of this event with your members, direct them to this public page: https://www.barnabasfoundation.com/interactive.

Do you have appreciated stock or other securities that you’ve owned for at least a year? Adam Lopez, director of planning, and Kurt Knoll, director of member relations, discuss why marketable securities are a much more cost-effective giving option than cash.

Amy Bakker Baty, director of planning and Kurt Knoll, director of member relations discuss how if you are 70 ½ and older, you can make a sizeable gift from your individual retirement account (IRA) to ministry and reduce your taxable income.

Nathan Osborn, managing director of planning services discusses how you can  give more to ministry than you ever thought possible! You can redirect a business or property you no longer need or want to manage toward Kingdom purposes, and experience significant tax benefits in return.

Travis Morrow, director of planning shares how you can convert virtual investments into real, tax-wise Kingdom impact by giving cryptocurrency to ministry!

Looking for a streamlined way to support your church and other favorite ministries? A donor-advised fund allows you to give to a single charitable account to support one or multiple causes close to your heart. (With Cindi Riemersma, director of gift administration)

You know a game-changer when you see one. Game-changers flip the playing field and re-write the rules of the game. When it comes to money for your church’s ministry, there’s a no-brainer, game-changer and it’s called “gifts in a will.” Rev. Phil Leo and Mike LeFebre, Stewardship Leader at Immanuel CRC (Hudsonville, MI), discuss the easiest ways to receive gifts in a will, common obstacles and how to overcome them.

Money problems got you losing sleep? In this episode, Barnabas Foundation's Phil Leo and John Bolt, Director of Finance and Operations for the Christian Reformed Church, discuss: “Money Problems We Lose Sleep Over."

In addition to common money problems church leaders face, both personally and professionally, they cover all of the resources available for you and your church. 

Do you have real estate you no longer need or care to manage? You can reduce your costs and headaches by giving all or part of it to ministry. 

Join Barnabas Foundation’s Steve Baker, J.D. (director of planning) and Kurt Knoll (director of member relations and investments) for practical tips on giving real estate to Kingdom causes. 

Who really cares about a donor-advised fund? Turns out the members of your church do! Want to get the inside scoop on donor-advised funds and how they benefit your church? Phil Leo and Steve Chittenden, Stewards Fund (Barnabas Foundation’s donor-advised fund) owner and faithful church supporter, discuss "Who Cares About a Donor-Advised Fund?"

When it comes to planned gifts, many church leaders believe their church might be too small, too young, or too old to receive these kinds of donations. Or perhaps, there isn't anyone in the congregation that knows how to make such a gift. What would it be like if your church overcame these obstacles? What if it were easy to promote and receive more planned gifts for your church’s ministry? Join Phil Leo and Cindi Riemersma, Barnabas Foundation's client service administrator, as they discuss "Funding Hacks to Pay for Ministry."

Try your fact-checking prowess on some commonly held assumptions about members who leave a gift in their will to your church:

In this episode, Phil Leo, church communications director, and Nathan Osborn, managing director of planning at Barnabas Foundation, discuss “Fact Check: Debunking Myths About Gifts In A Will.”

Who’s responsible for church vision?

Too often leaders bear the mantle of church vision alone, as if it depends entirely them. In reality, healthy vision is broadly owned by both church members and leaders.

So, what does it take to sow seeds for grassroots vision at your church? How might the work of church vision change if it were shared? 

Join Phil Leo and Jodi Koeman, church with community coordinator for World Renew. As they discuss the potential for broadly owned vision at your church.

What excites you about bivocational ministry? What gives you pause? What are the nagging questions you have?

Bring your questions and join Phil Leo online with Nathan Rauh-Bieri, program manager for the CRCNA’s Financial Shalom program. They'll discuss the possibilities and potential pitfalls of bivocational ministry.

In this conversation, Cindi Riemersma (client services administrator) and Kurt Knoll (director of member relations and investments) share how by gifting commodities – such as grains, soybeans, corn, fruits, nuts and even livestock – or equipment to ministry, you can achieve greater Kingdom impact and experience personal tax savings. 

Give more to ministry than you ever thought possible by gifting real estate or business interest! In this conversation, Kurt Knoll,  (director of member relations and investments) and Cindi Riemersma (client services administrator) share how you can redirect a business or property you no longer need or want to manage toward Kingdom purposes, and experience  significant tax benefits in return.

If you are 70 ½ and older, you can make a sizeable gift from your individual retirement account (IRA) to ministry and reduce your taxable income. In this conversation, Cindi Riemersma (client services administrator) and Kurt Knoll (director of member relations and investments)  share all the specifics of this simple and popular giving option.

Do you have appreciated stock or other securities that you’ve owned for at least a year? In this video, Cindi Riemersma, client services administrator, explains why marketable securities are a much more cost-effective giving option than cash.

Completing a will is intensely personal for members at your church. So why should it matter to you if they’ve completed one or not?

Because a completed will is the only way legacy gifts from members who are passionate about your church’s ministry can be made. It’s a big deal!

Join me online as Phil Leo hosts Steve Baker, senior estate planner for Barnabas Foundation, to discuss common obstacles your church members encounter when it comes to completing a will.

The financially healthy church is typically associated with a million-dollar budget and a dream endowment. Truth is, financially healthy churches result when leaders display key qualities that have nothing to do with dollars and cents!

Phil Leo hosts John Bolt, director of finances and operations for CRCNA, to discuss the difference leaders make when it comes to a church's financial health.

It’s one of those impossible conversations. A family from your church is near financial ruin with crushing debt and dwindling income streams. Things are desperate and they’re turning to your church.

Financial literacy tools and resources will help... but you understand there’s more to this problem than just dollars and cents.

Where do you begin?

Rev. Phil Leo hosts Megan Pacheo and Kasia Tunnell, owners of Better Three Group, to discuss the spiritual dimensions of financial struggle.

Rev. Phil Leo and Cindi Riemersma, client services administrator for Barnabas Foundation, discuss big-picture strategies for protecting your church budget during times of crisis.

Rev. Phil Leo and James Bakke, J.D., executive director of Barnabas Foundation, discuss a new, complimentary solution for you and your congregation. This simple, online resource will help your church members create their legal wills – fast and 100% free!

Rev. Phil Leo and Syble Solomon, creator of Money Habitude$, discuss the six faces of giving and how knowing your “money habitude” impacts generosity.

Barnabas Foundation's Rev. Phil Leo hosts Rev. Paul Ryan, pastor for worship at Calvin University, as he describes how students there pray, give, memorize Scripture and even sit in silence together!

Barnabas Foundation's Rev. Phil Leo hosts Rev. Michael Ten Haken and Sadie Ash as they tell how Pease CRC successfully navigated their church's recent capital campaign.

Barnabas Foundation's Rev. Phil Leo and Gary Hoag, international speaker and author, discuss four easy tips for talking about money with church members.

Phil Leo and Scott Rodin, president of The Stewards Journey, consider the biblical teaching of tithing and discuss related challenges and opportunities.

Barnabas Foundation's Phil Leo, church communications director, and Rev. Greg Janke, senior pastor at Palos Heights CRC, discuss the challenges and opportunities of growing corporate spiritual discipline. 

Jesus and the Apostle Paul didn’t steer clear from talking about money. At what point did money become a dirty word? Why is talking about money so hard?

Barnabas Foundation's Phil Leo, church communications director, and Rev. Dave Den Haan, ministry consultant with CRCNA Pastor-Church Relations, discuss some of the thorny issues pastors are faced with when it comes to talking finances. They'll also cover opportunities and resources to help foster healthy conversations about money.

You've waded through a flood of books on vision for the church. (Some are great, others not so much!) What doesn't happen very often, however, are practical conversations about the nitty-gritty work of developing and sustaining it in your congregation. Barnabas Foundation's Phil Leo, church communications director, and Rev. Michael Kooy of Grace Community CRC in Oak Lawn, IL discuss the nuts and bolts of building compelling church vision. 

Making big plans for ministry is always exciting! Figuring out how to fund them is not nearly as much fun. Barnabas Foundation's Phil Leo, church communications director, along with Kurt Knoll, director of member relations, share secrets from the nonprofit world for sustaining and expanding ministry. 

"Hey Pastor, can I donate stock to the church?" Barnabas Foundation makes it easy for you to answer this question with a resounding, "YES!" Barnabas Foundation's Phil Leo, church communications director, and Cindi Riemersma, client services administrator, explain how your church's Treasure Account works. Through it, members of your congregation can simply and securely give non-cash assets, such as real estate, stock, business interests and commodities.