Each year, CIF works with a variety of churches across the country to help them finance construction projects, new facilities or real estate. Read below how CIF partnered with Grace Fellowship in Kentucky with a church loan to renovate an empty grocery store.
Grace Fellowship
Project Location: Kentucky
Project Highlight: Loan to Renovate Existing Facility
The Problem:
Operations Pastor Todd Richmond of Grace Fellowship in Kentucky knows all about finding unique situations for ministry. The 25-year-old church has three campuses in the area with more than 2,000 people who attend.
The church wanted to launch a new multisite campus in a nearby community.
“We searched for months looking for property to buy or a suitable building to purchase,” Richmond said. “Finally, we leased an empty grocery store right in the heart of a commercial part of town.” Construction inside the store would cost about $2 million.
The Solution:
The church approached CIF for a church loan and, “After a brief conversation, CIF was excited to help us finance the new campus using equity from our existing campus building and property. Their rates were superior to our local bank, and the ability to have candid conversations about various financing options was very helpful.”
With the buildout complete, the church opened to the public in January, 2020, with more than 500 people attending two services. Approximately 200 of those people were completely new to the church.
Why CIF?
Richmond concluded: “CIF excels in understanding the finances and needs of churches much better than banks or other lenders …. We were so pleased with their service that we are currently working with them to finance our next campus buildout.”
If your church need helps with a loan—or just wants to discuss loan options — Contact us! We’re happy to run the numbers for you.
COVID-19 Update
“After just nine weeks of meeting in our new facility, COVID-19 restrictions led us to meet virtually for the next 17 weeks,” Richmond said. “Even now that we are back in person, we are operating at about 50 percent of our pre-COVID-19 attendance. A number of our community groups are meeting in the church facility (instead of in homes) to allow for more social distancing.”
To read more stories of churches that have partnered with CIF on a church loan, church refinancing or on other church financing needs, click here!
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