Minnesota Man Leaves Entire Estate and Collection of 30,000 Cars to His Church

A Minnesota church found approximately 30,000 toy cars, and a few classic real ones, in a house donated to it in the will of a recently deceased member.

Celebration Church of Lakeville inherited the home of a church usher named Dennis Erickson who died last December. Inside the home were legions of toy cars.

Lisa Lundstrom, director of finances and human resources at Celebration Church, told The Christian Post about how they came upon the discovery.

"The middle of December I received a phone call from an attorney in Eagan telling me that Dennis had died and left almost his entire estate to the ministry and church," explained Lundstrom. "I met with the attorney and then entered the house to realize just what that gift represented."

Lundstrom described the collection as "too vast to describe" and that Erickson "had just about every size die-cast car."

An Assemblies of God congregation founded in 1996, Celebration Church's automobile discovery has recently caught the attention of local media.

"Shelves filled with scale model cars filled the foyer — then kept going. Kitchen, living room, bedrooms, family room — every available space was covered with cars," reported KARE Channel 11 earlier this week.

"Meticulously displayed in Erickson's house and two garages are more than 30,000 cars, including a full size Model T Ford, a '59 Edsel and a '66 Rambler."

Celebration Church believes that the total financial amount of the collection may go into the six figures, with plans still under way on how to deal with the estate.

"We are making slow decisions to maximize the tremendous gift to further the ministry here and around the world through our missions support. We want to do his estate and wishes the right way, not just a fast way," explained Lundstrom to CP.