Larry Wilkinson knows something about the pension program that James B. Duke established for retired United Methodist pastors — he’s received annual checks since retiring in 2001 after 42 years in the ministry. But his understanding of the importance of those grants came much earlier — back when he served as a district superintendent in the Western North Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. The pension grants are one of The Duke Endowment’s oldest programs. James B. Duke, raised in a Methodist family, was well aware of the sacrifices made by pastors who served poor rural areas and often faced retirement with very few accumulated financial resources. So in the Endowment’s founding Indenture of Trust, he directed that it set aside part of its annual income to provide pensions for retired pastors who had served in North Carolina, and for spouses and children of deceased pastors. The need for such a program was eased when the church established a modern pension program of its own in 1982, but Wilkinson says that, particularly for pastors who retired before then, the annual Endowment checks make a big financial difference. “These checks are much anticipated and much appreciated, and much needed for a variety of reasons,” says Wilkinson, who knows of retirees who use funds from the Endowment to pay property taxes, utility bills, and medical bills. One couple he knows used the money to buy long-term care insurance. Another woman uses the funds to support her adult daughter, who lives in a home for the developmentally disabled. Not all retirees use the grant funds for essential expenses. Some pay for vacations, and some for continuing education programs. And because the checks are mailed in December, they brighten the Christmas holidays for many retirees. “You can’t say all the ways this makes a difference in people’s lives, “Wilkinson says, “but the North Carolina conferences are fortunate to have this. Mr. Duke did a wonderful thing.” | 
