Eight financial development staff and consultants of the Anglican Church of Canada have donated a gift of life insurance to be administered by the Anglican Foundation on behalf of General Synod, the church’s governing body, for future congregational and financial development initiatives.

The donors have committed a total of $5,000 a year for five years for the Letting Down the Nets Trust that is expected to produce $250,000.

Consultant David Rushton, assisted by Eduard Fidler, a financial planner, arranged the gift and invited two Anglicans – a male layperson and a female priest in western Canada – to serve as the insured participants. Upon the death of the second insured person, the Anglican Foundation will receive at least 10 times the premiums paid, while the donors receive a donation receipt for each premium share paid, said Peter Blachford, General Synod’s director of financial management and development.

The donors include Mr. Blachford, Canon Geoff Jackson, senior development officer; Jim Cullen, acting comptroller; Archdeacon John Robertson, national gift planning consultant; and General Synod consultants Mr. Rushton, Kevin Smith, Rob Waller and Mr. Fidler.