Faithful son leaves $3m to small rural church

NASHVILLE (Tennessee) – John Ferguson was a simple man. He drove an old pickup truck, lived in a trailer without running water and kept to himself.

It came as a bit of a shock, then, when the 71-year-old farmer died and left more than US$2 million (S$3 million) to a small rural United Methodist church that his mother faithfully attended before her death in 1983.

Everyone at the church knew someday the family’s inheritance would come to the church, but no one knew how much money was involved, said the Rev Jason L. McQueen, Pastor of Hopewell United Methodist Church in Blairsville, Pennsylvania.

“We had our jaws in our laps for a couple of weeks,” the Rev McQueen said of the 80-member congregation, which learned about the gift several months after Ferguson died in January 2007. The will had to go through the probate system before money was distributed.

John’s cousin, Mr Jim Ferguson, was executor of the will, which he described as short and simple. “There was one paragraph that said everything should go to the church,” he said.

“John was very frugal. He bought $200 cars when he could have bought a new Cadillac.”

Both Jim Ferguson and the Rev McQueen have been overwhelmed by the media attention generated by the will since The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ran a Dec 7 article on the gift. Since then, requests for interviews have come in from news outlets such as “Good Morning America”, local television stations and other newspapers.

“I know John would not have wanted all this media attention,” Mr Jim Ferguson said. 

The Rev McQueen said the church plans to keep the money in investments and use only interest income for ministries. While the money is not expected to change day-to-day church operations, some church leaders are bracing to receive requests for donations.

Hopewell has formed a committee to distribute the money. One of the first needs to be addressed is restoring local cemeteries – a cause that John Ferguson was passionate about.              

Another possibility is helping Hopewell become a “station” church – one that stands on its own and has its own pastor. “That dream has got a shot in the arm from the inheritance,” the Rev McQueen said. – United Methodist News Service.