Meet Stephen and JoAnn Hoskins

Stephen and JoAnn Hoskins are the poster couple for how to live active and fulfilling lives in retirement. In a recent interview with Pastor David Heetland, they shared their deep appreciation for St. Luke's United Methodist Church and what led them to include the church in their estate plans. The following is a condensed version of that interview.

What would you like others to know about yourselves, your family, your careers, and your current interests?
JoAnn is a research scientist, retired from Eli Lilly. Stephen is an electrical engineer, retired from Bell Labs and Technicolor. We have two amazing kids, a daughter and a son, who have built beautiful families. We get to see a lot of our 3 grandchildren, so we feel pretty blessed.

What led you to become active members of St. Luke's?
Back in 2011, our daughter enrolled her toddler in St. Luke's preschool. Through that connection we learned about a joint Bible study that St. Luke's was doing with Congregation Beth El-Zedek. Intrigued, we attended the 6-week study and met Pastor Rob Fuquay and Rabbi Dennis Sasso. Then at Thanksgiving that year we attended services for the first time and were struck by the message and the music. Voila! We knew we had found what we had been looking for.

How long have you been affiliated with St. Luke's?
Since Thanksgiving 2011.

Tell me about your various involvements at St. Luke's.
Stephen is a volunteer staff person in the Adult Discipleship department, coordinating our 30+ classes and class leaders. It started out many years ago in a Disciple 1 class from Susan Fuquay, then she asked him to lead Disciple, and then … it just grew from there. That early Disciple 1 group stuck together; we still meet every week for study and fellowship. Stephen served on the Governing Board for 4 years. We both usher during the 9:30 traditional services every 3 months. And we love Wednesday Night Live dinners.

What aspects/programs at St. Luke's are of greatest importance to you?
We love the Sunday worship experience, of course. And we love our small group that's been together for so long. But we're especially proud to be part of a church that is completely open and affirming of our LGBTQ+ friends, is not just color-blind but is actively anti-racist, and is so active in community outreach. These things matter to us.

What inspired you to include St. Luke's in your estate planning?
We created an estate plan when or kids were born because we wanted to make sure they were provided for if something happened to us. They're grown now, so our attention has shifted to providing for our grandchildren and extended family. Church has always been an important part of our life since the day we got married, so naturally we want to provide for our church family.

What do you hope your estate gift will accomplish?
We are grateful for how good St. Luke's has been for us. We want to help provide that blessing for others in our community as well. We believe that church matters in the lives of families. Trusting God and building relationships with people are important for a strong community. That's what we hope our legacy will help provide.

What is your hope for our congregation as you look to the future?
We just pray that St. Luke's continues to be the safe and welcoming home that it is now for those who believe and those who want to believe. The need for that is great in our community.

St. Luke's is pleased to recognize Stephen and JoAnn Hoskins as members of St. Luke's Legacy Society. If you would like more information on how you too can become a member of St. Luke's Legacy Society, contact David Heetland, pastor of planned giving, at [email protected] or 317.399.6202.