Case Studies

New home for ECO church in capital city village

Road to Emmaus Church purchases building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with loan from CIF

Service: Construction Loan, Real Estate Loan

“Your timing, with CIF coming alongside us, was part of that divine timing that we just feel so good about, so confident, so peaceful about.”

Pastor Wayne Lowe, Road to Emmaus Church, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

A beautiful “band of brothers” (and sisters) in the capital of Pennsylvania are experiencing real fellowship and great love as they create a new church space made possible by a church loan from Christian Investors Financial (CIF).

That’s how Pastor Wayne Lowe describes the projects that ensued at Road to Emmaus Church. The congregation of about 70 took possession of a 121-year-old church building in a village of Harrisburg. Tearing it down to the studs, it will be all new inside.

“When this building opened up, God opened up all the doors, like every single one, and there was a rightness about it,” said Pastor Wayne. “Your timing, with CIF coming alongside us, was part of that divine timing that we just feel so good about, so confident, so peaceful about.”

In the last few decades, when churches left the downtown spaces and went out of town to build their big new buildings, Road to Emmaus is going the opposite route (staying in the city), he said. “Our vision is the love the Harrisburg area with the love that God has given us and with the purpose of making and growing disciples.”

Newer church now more established

Before buying the building, Road to Emmaus first met in a rented fire hall then a former physical therapist’s office.

Their new location was first used by a Church of God congregation. Multiple retailers, including a hardware store followed, as did a craft store and restaurants.

The church’s new neighborhood has older, more modest homes and young families to reach for Christ. “We do lots of parking lot kinds of events, family fun days, harvest festivals, yard sales and that sort of thing,” said Pastor Wayne, who expects the new space will bring even more opportunities, visibility and an intimate connection to the village.

Road to Emmaus is adding more midweek and evening events. The church hosts guitar and art lessons as a way to invite people into the first steps of discipleship. Pastor Lowe’s preaching is expository and worship styles use a wide variety of music.

A modest mortgage through CIF means owning a building will cost about half as much as they were paying in rent previously. The church’s lawyer was particularly impressed with how CIF performed with the loan.

“When we came to closing and met in our lawyer’s office, he said he had been initially hesitant about us working with an out-of-state lender … but said you guys were on it all the way,” said Pastor Wayne. “There was hardly a hesitation, never any guessing on your part, and he also mentioned that the interest rate we got was very competitive.”

With purchase in hand, church went to work

The church ran a capital campaign to raise funds for building renovation and refurbishment. A general contractor who attends the church is leading the job with a handful of paid people and even more volunteers, Pastor Wayne explains.

The setting has advantages. It’s a walkable area with a coffee house, small restaurant and charming little stores, he said. Lots of dreams and visions have gone into the project, the ministry that can happen at the church and how the space will shape it. “There are some beautiful ideas that I’m sure will come to life as we learn about how to live in the space and how to minister,” said Pastor Wayne.

A larger commercial kitchen was removed and a smaller one is being built that will still meet commercial kitchen codes. This allows for more fellowship and storage space.

Learn more about church loans

Newer denomination and church
Road to Emmaus was launched in 2015, just three years after the formation of its denomination, ECO, A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians.

“You’re a recommended lender among us, so I called up when we were starting to think seriously about this, to pray seriously about purchasing our own building,” he explained. A leader from ECO’s executive branch recommended CIF.

The church building once had a steeple and stained glass, with the latter being moved to a different Church of God building a mile and a half away. The steeple came down in the 1960s.

“Folks have asked us if we’d put a steeple back up but that’s fairly low on the budgeting priorities,” he said.

Pastor Wayne was raised in New Jersey but has fallen in love with this part of Pennsylvania. “We’re in a funny spot in the state, often defined as east and west by Philly and Pittsburgh. Harrisburg is a little bit of an anomaly in that rural swath running through the middle.”

This is the place where God has called the congregation to serve. With a large image of the building at the top of their website, Road to Emmaus Church invites people to come as they are and be blessed. “We really appreciate what you all (CIF) have done for us,” said Pastor Wayne.

Find out more about church loans through CIF today.

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