A couple that wished to remain anonymous has given $40 million to the Community of Christ church in Independence, Missouri — by far the largest single contribution in the church's history, the Kansas City Star reports.

In addition to the amount, which exceeds by about a third the church's basic annual operating budget, what makes the donation especially unusual is that the donors do not live in the Kansas City area and have put no restrictions on how the gift should be used. According to Linda Booth, communications director for the church, it will become part of the church's endowment, which generates funds for its worldwide ministry activities.

Still, the donation does not relieve the church of financial concerns, said Booth. A recent article in the church's magazine, the Herald, cited a decline in world mission tithes as an ongoing problem. The church has supplemented its annual budget of $29.7 million with transfers from reserves, and church executives are reducing future budget projections. The gift was announced, with an accompanying interview with the donors, in the January issue of the magazine. In the article, the couple, who started their first business four decades ago, talked about someday making a significant donation to the church and described how his father set an example of personal generosity, often returning from trips to town with empty pockets.

"One of the concerns the donors had was that this would be seen as an excuse for people to say they didn't need to give," said Booth. "[They] wanted others to have that same sense of joy in giving."