Andy and Jenny Hutchinson believe in tithing to their church and giving back to their community. With the help of the Kansas Methodist Foundation’s estate planning services, Andy and Jenny created an estate plan in which they can ensure their family will be provided for and their desire to give to their church and other causes important to them will be honored.

“There is a tremendous relief that if we were to pass on unexpectedly, either together or separately, there’s generally a clear plan on what needs to happen,” Andy said. “It makes it easier for our kids once we are gone. It’s one less thing they have to worry about.”

Mention the Stanton name among Kansas United Methodists and you are sure to make a connection. For decades, the Stanton family has faithfully served across Kansas.

Both native Kansans, Marshall and Janice are familiar with all regions of the state. Marshall was born in Satanta and raised in Plains while Janice was born in Topeka and raised in Wichita.

Marshall and Janice were children during the Great Depression. Marshall grew up on a farm and learned about farming and all the equipment required to carry out its operation. Above all, he learned about working from dawn to dusk.

While Janice didn’t grow up on a farm, she was no stranger to work. Coming from a family of modest means required her to work part-time in high school and to work all through college.

Significant life lessons stemmed from those days of hard work and little resources. They learned to both solve problems and to measure work not by the clock but by the task.

After high school, both Marshall and Janice pursued advanced education, which led to them meeting at Friends University. In 1956, the two married while Marshall was a senior and Janice was a junior. Both graduated from Friends with honors and then moved to Wilmore, Kentucky, where Marshall enrolled in Asbury Theological Seminary.

Following seminary and another degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1961, the Stanton’s moved back to Kansas, where Marshall started pastoral ministry by serving the Jewell/Randall parish in North Central Kansas. While at that appointment, Eric (1962) and Kirsten (1966) were born. Marshall also started his involvement with Conference-wide tasks, the first of which was organizing a study tour for adults to Washington, D.C. and New York City.

The Stanton family moved to Salina in 1966 to serve Trinity United Methodist Church, a church then only four years old. The congregation’s membership was dominated by young and middle-aged adults. Only two couples were of retirement age in 1966. Nathan was born in 1969, and the Stanton’s moved to a thousand-member church at Colby in 1971.

After seven years Marshall was appointed as District Superintendent of the Hutchinson District, during which time he started service on the Kansas Wesleyan Board of Trustees. During those years, Janice returned to teaching English at the junior high level.

In February 1984, Marshall was elected President of Kansas Wesleyan University where he served for 18 ½ years, setting a service record for presidents at KWU. Janice was active at the university as spouse of the president. She taught English at the high school level during Marshall’s tenure and then as an adjunct faculty member at KWU.

All three Stanton children earned college degrees, and Nathan gained two master’s degrees, one in Theology and one in Theater.

The great themes guiding Marshall and Janice’s life have been Christian commitment; stewardship of all of life, including time, talent and treasure; emotional stability during all circumstances; making things work, ranging from institutions and organizations to automobiles and model airplanes; and learning to be comfortable with difficult situations while working to improve them.

Above all, the Holy Spirit has guided the Stanton’s into greater service opportunities than they could have imagined, leading them through great difficulties while also providing endless joy and satisfaction. The Stanton’s have dedicated their lives to faith, family, and education. Their legacy and generosity amplify all three of those areas. Included in their estate plans, established through the estate planning process with KMF, are provisions for the Marshall & Janice Stanton Legacy Fund, which will support college and seminary scholarships. Truly, the life Marshall and Janice have lived and the plans they have made create a legacy of learning, teaching, and leading.

“For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Such is the journey of local church ministry. To remain impactful, the practices of ministry must adapt and respond.

The Endowment of Tonganoxie United Methodist Church was born by generous gifts from a few long-time church member families in the 1980s. While it served TUMC well for many years, a new season was upon the church to broaden the scope of the endowment and to invite new gifts.

In 2022, the Tonganoxie UMC began working with the Kansas Methodist Foundation to consider options of restructuring and rethinking its endowment program.

The entire new relationship began with the Kansas Methodist Foundation's investment services, providing competitive returns, minimum fees, and investments in alignment with the values of the Church. However, Tonganoxie UMC came to discover that KMF brought more value to the relationship than was expected. Mark Gepner, chair of the newly organized Permanent Endowment Committee, said, “We just never expected that relationship to include so much more than an investment partner.

KMF worked with the committee to broaden the vision for possible purposes of the endowment, confirm the commitment to hold to the intent of pastor donors, and create a process to engage congregation members to remember the church in their estate planning.

"KMF planted the seed that our Endowment doesn’t have to be what it always has been. This may seem like a small thing, but empowering the congregation to dream bigger was potent and contagious."

-Mark Gepner

In the fall of 2022, Rev. Dr. Dustin Petz joined in the series of sermons about stewardship Pastor Matthew Wilke was preaching in October. The coordination of preaching about how to make an impact in ministry through generosity was fitting as part of the series. The sermon spoke to the impact of giving for annual support, while also pointing to leaving a lasting legacy for the future of Tonganoxie UMC.

As part of that Legacy Sunday, Petz presented a training about the impact of our living giving, and the important of creating an estate plan, so that as disciples of Jesus we can steward well the resources entrusted to us by God.

It was an impactful year, laying the foundation for a vibrant future for the church. With vision, a trustworthy process, and making a heart-felt ask, we can make a lasting impact on the Church, as we live out our discipleship in the community.

If it is a new season with your church, consider connecting with the KMF staff to learn how you can prepare for a bright future tied to the mission of your church.

"The biggest impact of this process was the unity it created in our Church around a vision for future growth and giving."

- Pastor Matthew Wilke