Waiting on God, ready to buy church building

Service: Real Estate Loan, Investments

A Minnesota church with longtime roots was meeting in schools and another rented space for 20 years. Then the congregation found a building to purchase with consultation and a loan from Christian Investors Financial (CIF).

“We were mobile … owning land, trying to build a church,” said Lead Pastor Lon Bjornrud, a 29-year veteran of Living Hope in East Bethel, where he first served as a youth pastor.

The church’s 10-acre piece of open land (pictured at right) is in Oak Grove, about 33 miles north of downtown Minneapolis.

The earlier plan was to build there in 2020, then the pandemic came, and a new opportunity arrived by word of mouth.

A slight move to a ready building

St. Andrew Lutheran Church, just 8 miles south in East Bethel, was selling a nearly 10,000 square-foot building on four acres. So, a deal was negotiated with Living Hope.

The congregation had significant savings to put toward the purchase, and the church-owned land was added collateral for the CIF loan.

CIF an advocate for church

“One of the things I really appreciate was their (CIF’s) concern for making sure we didn’t get in over our heads, that we steward things wisely,” said Pastor Lon.

Living Hope was planted by three area churches in 2001. Burns Evangelical Free Church, a country church with a rich heritage back to 1886, was dissolved and became part of the new church.

Fast-forward to 2021 – the rented building the congregation was meeting in was sold. “The resilience of our church family was especially tested during this time, but God was faithful as always,” a church history page explains on its website.

The church’s mission matches their name: Living the Hope of the Gospel through Extravagant Love, Prayerful Dependence, Studying the Scripture to Know God, Worship as a Way of Life and Mutual Community.

“Now, we’ve got a place to plant our feet and kind of grow out from. It’s been a real benefit. People know where we are, who we are and the opportunity has expanded so much because of that stability,” said Pastor Lon. “So, it’s been a great, great gift. And we are thankful to CIF for it.”

Mission appeal

The mission emphasis with Christian Investors Financial was also attractive to the church.

“One of the things we loved about CIF is that the interest we’re paying is going to help other churches, rather than just going into other people’s pockets,” Pastor Lon explained. “So that was a real blessing and something we were excited about.”

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