Wise counsel and established trust between Christian Investors Financial and two churches in Pennsylvania have contributed to lasting, transparent relationships with communication at the center.
Senior Pastor Jack Wilson with Waterdam Church in Canonsburg connected with several CIF representatives at various conferences. His church took out a loan with CIF for renovations and an addition in recent years.
Helping to get started
Much earlier, CIF advised his congregation to co-sign with a sister church to purchase its first building. CIF typically seeks a significant down payment for church loans, in many cases from funds contributed by church attendees through a capital campaign. Waterdam engaged CIF to help with just such a campaign.
Elder and finance committee member CJ Keffer said he was a bit intimidated to ask others in his church to participate financially.
“CIF really counseled us on biblical passages that reflected how King David went about collecting money to build the temple,” said Keffer. “They really emphasized that providing the invitation was our job as a team.”
Keffer said it was God’s job to prompt people in the congregation to participate.
Churches as priority
The nonprofit, Kingdom-focus of CIF also came into play six months after Waterdam’s mortgage was complete. CIF reached out to offer a half percent rate reduction.
“We were very excited about that and it just underscored for us that it was really a ministry partnership between our church and CIF, as opposed to them just being a service organization,” the elder explained.
Understanding ministry
A second congregation in the area, Pathway Church in Beaver Falls, took on a loan for a couple of substantial projects – a 26,000 square-foot children’s ministry addition and a remodeling almost three times that size in the church’s existing structure.
“We looked at a lot of different banking institutions,” said Executive Pastor John Westurn. “They (CIF) were the only ones we thought really understood ministry, meeting us where we were at and understood the idea of really serving us.”
Pathway Church has a seven-year relationship with CIF, and is an investor as well. “We love them, love working with them and look forward to working with them in the future,” the pastor said.
The church and CIF have worked closely together as the congregation made financial decisions.
Senior Pastor Andy Kvernen with Cornerstone Community Church in Marshfield, Wis. touches on the congregation’s capital campaign with CIF and a phased approach for its $3.6 million project that will begin in the spring of 2025. More room was needed for youth ministry and offices and the church has expanded its staff. Additionally, a facelift… Continue Reading
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Sometimes, church leaders can get heavily focused on the interest rate for a church loan as the sole factor in choosing a lender. No doubt, it is important, but there are also many other factors to consider – such as additional fees, term length, loan covenants, and annual requirements to name a few. It is… Continue Reading
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Question: Churches exist to do ministry. How does a church balance that overarching mission with the need to save for the unexpected and build up reserves to cover property-related expenses, including maintenance for buildings, updates and expansion? Answer: Being good stewards of financial resources requires prudent planning both now and in the future. We advise… Continue Reading
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