“A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.”

Proverbs 13:22 (NIV)

Prior to my arrival at UMF, I practiced law for nearly 30 years.  Early in my career, my office was located just off of Old Wake Forest Road north of the belt line that circles Raleigh.  Wake Forest Road runs north and south and is a major artery into downtown Raleigh.  My office was located in a business area, with hotels, offices, restaurants, and Duke Raleigh Hospital all within walking distance.

My common practice took me to the courthouse each day. And on that trip, I always noticed a small home located in the middle of all of these business buildings and restaurants. It was clearly out of place as there were no other other homes around it. I often wondered who owned it and whether they knew they were sitting on a gold mine. 

My home church is Millbrook UMC. My wife and I were married there. Our daughter was baptized there and grew up with all the other kids that roamed the Millbrook campus. In the late 1980’s I was serving on Millbrooks endowment committee. The church had just received an unexpected and unrestricted gift from a member who had just passed away. His name was Herbert Ruffin.

Mr. Ruffin was the owner of that little, out-of-place home on Wake Forest Road.  He’d served in a variety of capacities at Millbrook and was well-loved by many of the older members. Upon receipt of this gift, we learned that Mr. Ruffin had left one-half the value of his home to Millbrook Baptist Church (which sits across the street from Millbrook Methodist Church) and the other half to Millbrook Methodist Church. How strange.

Since I did not know Mr. Ruffin personally, I decided to make an inquiry about him with some of the older members of the church.  What I learned makes me laugh to this day.

It turns out that Mr. Ruffin’s wife attended Millbrook Baptist Church. Each Sunday he would drop his wife off at the Baptist church and park his car in their parking lot. He’d then walk across the street, worship at Millbrook, and then walk back to Millbrook Baptist, meet his wife in the parking lot, and head home. Apparently, this went on for years.

Mr. Ruffin was born in 1898. He died in 1989. He ran a small typewriter repair shop in downtown Raleigh.  And before he died, he added Millbrook United Methodist Church as a beneficiary in his will.

That small home, so out of place, was worth over 1.2 million dollars.  Millbrook church received a little over $600,000. As you can imagine, there was a lot of commotion within the church as to how to spend this gift. But thankfully, church leaders decided to create an endowment and place the funds at the United Methodist Foundation. 

And in that wise decision, Mr. Ruffin’s legacy lives on today.  Since that investment was made, the Ruffin account has paid Millbrook nearly $900,000. And equally important, the account has a value of over $900,000.  Each year Millbrook receives revenue from this endowment of over $40,000. 

A few years back, Millbrook used the earnings from this account to purchase new technology for its contemporary worship service. And now young and old alike are learning about Jesus in a way that would not have been possible but for Mr. Ruffin’s gift. And while I don’t know for sure, I’d like to think the same is going on at Millbrook Baptist church. 

Mr. Ruffin’s gift is not wood, hay, or stubble.  It’s a diamond that will survive the fire. He had no idea how his act of generosity would be used. And he couldn’t have conceived of the technology his gift made possible. But there it is. A good and faithful steward.

Mr. Ruffin’s story reminds us to think carefully about our legacy.  We write a new page of it each day, whether for good or bad. But in the end, we all want to hear the words “Welcome, good and faithful servant.”  Don’t let the time slip away. Think carefully about your legacy. 

This article was submitted by Rich Bowlin, CEO for the United Methodist Foundation, Inc. If you would like more information regarding UMF or starting a Legacy Giving program at your church, you can contact Rich at [email protected].