Continuing a Pledge

Bill and Janis Bischoff have been blessed with faith and financial resources for their entire lives. Bill's paternal and maternal ancestors, who immigrated to the United States from Germany in the 1840s and settled in the Fort Wayne area, were instrumental in forming Lutheran congregations that became early members of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). Janis' ancestors immigrated to the United States from England and settled in the Texas Panhandle. Both families are strong Christian families to this day. Bill was a retired certified public accountant (CPA) and chief financial officer (CFO), and Janis, a retired schoolteacher. In His wisdom, our Heavenly Father called Bill home to this past January.

From his time as a CPA and CFO, Bill understood the value of leveraging an IRA to make gifts to ministry. Using a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) from his IRA, Bill and Janis were able to realize no additional income from a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD), make gifts to ministry and fully benefit from their standard deduction. Before Bill was called home to heaven, Bill and Janis made a pledge to continue remembering ministry through Qualified Charitable Distributions. Janis now has "rolled over" Bill's IRA to her own. Further, Janis has been faithful to that pledge to continue the quarterly distributions to ministry.

Bill and Janis believe that supporting ministry goes beyond donating to their immediate congregation. It should include support for capital campaigns for churches, Christian schools, and aid in the spread of the Gospel.