Trust to Distribute $35 Million to Churches of Christ in Tennessee, Kentucky

The Comer Trust, established by the family of R.W. Comer in 1936, is about to distribute roughly $35 million to Churches of Christ in Tennessee and Kentucky, The Christian Chronicle has learned. Comer, born in small-town Kentucky before the Civil War, moved to Nashville, Tenn., in the early 20th century and built the Washington Manufacturing Co., best known for its DeeCee work clothing. At its height the company employed more than 20,000 workers in two dozen-plus factories across the South.

Comer died on Aug. 5, 1944, at age 84, according to an obituary published in The Tennessean. He had run the company until becoming ill about five weeks before his death. He was a charter member of Nashville’s Chapel Avenue Church of Christ, where he served as an elder until his death, and he served on the board of David Lipscomb College, now Lipscomb University. A January 1937 article in the Gospel Advocate noted that he gave a $3 Bible, about $53 in 2019 value, to each of his 2,500 employees for Christmas.

The Chronicle reported that a final order in the Sumner County Chancery Court in Gallatin, Tenn., approved the trustee’s final determination of beneficiaries. Chancellor Louis W. Oliver III issued the order late last month. The trust’s beneficiaries are a cappella Churches of Christ in Tennessee and Kentucky and related ministries, which will divide the proceeds.

William Tucker, assistant vice president for the major gift program and estate planning support at Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tenn., confirmed in an email to the Chronicle that every qualifying congregation will receive a letter with instructions that must be followed within a set time to receive a distribution. “Every congregation, whether large or small, will receive the same amount from the Comer Trust,” Tucker said.

If the $35 million were divided equally among the roughly 2,000 Churches of Christ in the two states, each would receive about $17,500. A trust fund letter received by multiple churches and reviewed by the Chronicle indicated that the trustee does not expect “appreciably more than 2,000” beneficiaries. Berry’s Chapel Church of Christ in Franklin, Tenn., founded in 1880 and reporting a weekly attendance of 417, is a potential beneficiary.

Jack S. Dugger Jr., the trustee and a great-grandson of R.W. Comer, said he was thankful that his great-grandfather and two great-uncles set up the trust. “Resources that were put into the trust have grown significantly over the last 70-plus years, and we’re able to now make a significant contribution to the congregations due to his generosity,” Dugger said. Dugger, 79, is a former elder of the Brentwood Church of Christ near Nashville. Asked for advice on how congregations should spend the money, he said, “No, not really. But we would hope that at least part of it would go to some sort of mission work” (Hebrews 13:16).

Comer had also made a $200,000 donation to Freed-Hardeman College as a permanent endowment. According to the letter sent to churches, that gift led to the college’s accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.

Source: Read the original report