Title: ELCA Mission Investment Fund Helps 'Build the Church' ELCA NEWS SERVICE
June 26, 2007
ELCA Mission Investment Fund Helps 'Build the Church' 07-114-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Mission Investment Fund (MIF) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has more than 700 loans totaling $382 million at work in congregations and ELCA- related ministries such as seminaries, outdoor ministries and social ministry organizations.
Investors across the church provide the money to help "build the church" while getting a good rate of return, said the Rev. Arnold O. Pierson, MIF vice president for church relations and communication.
"Any person or institution that is related to the ELCA can be an investor in the fund," he said. Approximately one-third of the ELCA's 10,549 congregations have invested in the fund. Fewer than 10,000 individuals have invested, and Pierson wants the ELCA's 4.85 million members to consider investing.
Not only does the investment have a rate of return similar to a certificate of deposit or money market account, Pierson said, it helps the ministries of the church and only the ministries of the church. "We're not involved in the stock market or mutual funds, so we know that all of that money is 'green' money where it is being used for the advancement of church," he said.
"The prime purpose of the Mission Investment Fund is loans to start our new congregations," Pierson said. "Because of the growth of the fund, we make a lot of loans today to established congregations" to renovate, expand or make their facilities accessible, he said. ELCA seminaries and camps also have loans.
New mission starts have no financial history and no credit history, so MIF is the only place they can get a loan, Pierson said. Established congregations may be able to get loans from other financial institutions, he said, "but we have to remember the Mission Investment Fund is a ministry of the ELCA."
MIF offers a competitive rate for the loans, Pierson said. While established congregations are paying off their loans, they're helping keep rates low for new congregations, he said.
"One of the unique features of the Mission Investment Fund is that we offer free of charge the services of our church architects and the church building consultants," Pierson said. They can advise congregations building new facilities or planning changes to their property, he said.
Cross+Road Lutheran Church, Orange Park, Fla.
Advent Lutheran Church, Orange Park, Fla., decided in 1998 to start a new congregation in the Fleming Island area of Clay County. Advent's associate pastor, the Rev. James E. Graeser Jr., was called to develop the new mission.
More than 100 people showed up in 1998 for the first worship service of Cross+Road Lutheran Church at Clay High School in Green Cove Springs, south of Jacksonville, Fla. The congregation continued to grow, and the ELCA Mission Investment Fund bought more than four acres of land as a future church site in Orange Park, Fla.
The congregation met in Doctor's Inlet Elementary School, Middleburg, Fla., in 1999. In 2000 it worshiped in Thunderbolt Elementary School, Orange Park.
Ninety-one families organized Cross+Road as a self- supporting congregation of the ELCA in 2001. The congregation broke ground in 2004 and started construction in 2005.
Since March 2006 an average of 250 people have worshiped each weekend in the new church building. The congregation is talking about starting a midweek service and possibly a school.
"The sky's the limit now that we have this tool for ministry," said Graeser. The vacation Bible school has its own space, he said. The youth group has grown to 40, more than can comfortably meet in someone's home, Graeser said, and midweek youth programming is easier to organize than before the congregation had its own facility.
The building "gives the community tangible evidence that Cross+Road is a viable church," Graeser said.
Cross+Road built on eight acres of land in a desirable location and holds a $1.2 million mortgage through MIF, Graeser said. "The Mission Investment Fund made it possible, and made more money available to us to build a larger building than what we would have been able to with a commercial lender," he said.
First Lutheran Church, Brainerd, Minn.
First Lutheran Church organized in 1882 in Minnesota's Lakes Region, a popular vacation destination in the heart of the state. First Lutheran's original sanctuary and fellowship space were built in 1915, with a lobby and three-story educational building added in the mid-1950s. A new elevator and office space followed in 1980.
Smith became First Lutheran's senior pastor in 2001, and Kelsey joined the staff in 2003 as the congregation's associate pastor.
Even before Smith and Kelsey arrived, the congregation undertook a "discernment process" that articulated its vision and mission. Several focal points of its vision -- "provide a warm, welcoming, healthy atmosphere ... provide space for youth centered activities" -- made a major building project one outcome.
First Lutheran worked with Philip Roe, MIF building consultant, and the Rev. Daniel B. Carlson, an MIF area representative, both from St. Paul, Minn., to help determine the congregation's priorities and its loan needs.
"Our desire to be 'hands-on' in the community has led to growth over time," Smith said.
The congregation's approximately 1,300 members operate a soup kitchen, build homes for the homeless with Habitat for Humanity, house homeless families with children at the church as part of the Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN), and sponsor a preschool. The congregation needed additional space to accommodate its ministries and the new members who want to participate in them.
"We have a $1.85 million MIF loan, in addition to $825,000 that the congregation raised through a capital campaign," Smith said. "MIF also provided our construction financing," he said.
"We added about 12,000 square feet in new construction, which includes space for a new fellowship hall, kitchen, youth room, lobby, large open multi-use space, two meeting rooms, three community outreach agency offices and the church offices," Smith said. The project began in September 2005 and was completed in December 2006, he said.
"The process with MIF was smooth," Smith said. He said some of the key factors for First Lutheran working with MIF included MIF's competitive rate and MIF's purpose to help grow the church through new mission starts.
"Investing with the Mission Investment Fund adds a deeper dimension to First Lutheran's ministry," said Smith. "MIF supports the church and its congregations by providing the funds for the low interest loans used by congregations to further the work of God's kingdom."
Community of Joy Lutheran Church, Rio Rancho, N.M.
Rio Rancho Lutheran Church began in 1987 in Rio Ranch, N.M. The congregation worshiped in the Inn at Rio Rancho and in the Italian-American Center. In 1990 it organized as Community of Joy Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation, and began meeting in Stapleton Elementary School. It moved in 1998 to Eagle Ridge Middle School, in 1999 to Enchanted Hills Elementary School, and in 2001 to a Rio Rancho office building.
In the midst of moving and growing, the congregation called the Rev. Scott A. Hackler as its pastor. Community of Joy also purchased land held by the ELCA Mission Investment Fund.
Community of Joy began planning for a church building in 2002, when membership reached about 60 households. MIF provided a $760,000 loan for the building project. Hackler said that, through the planning and fundraising process, the congregation's members developed a shared vision for mission and a high level of commitment.
The congregation moved into its new building in 2004. The facility consists of a conference room, offices, and welcoming, worship and fellowship spaces. The colorful interior and stucco exterior blend in with the local architecture.
Hackler described the building as "a place where people want to gather. The space allows us to be more creative in worship" and the congregation is able to do more programming for children and families.
"We are really able to focus on ministry," he said. "We ended up with the building that we'd hoped for. I don't think we could have done this project without the Mission Investment Fund," said Hackler, who has since moved to Illinois.
"The Mission Investment Fund was an important help," said the Rev. Thomas E. Anderson, the congregation's interim pastor.
Community of Joy continues to grow, with more than 150 people worshiping each week.
"Three years ago the congregation broke ground for the new church," Anderson said. "Next month it votes to expand the facilities it has outgrown. How's that for a mission moment?" -- -- --
Information on investing in the ELCA Mission Investment Fund or on applying for a loan is at http://www.missioninvestmentfund.org on the Web.
The home page of Cross+Road Lutheran Church is at http://www.crossroadlutheran.com/ and of First Lutheran Church is at http://flcbrainerd.com/ and of Community of Joy Lutheran Church is at http://www.communityofjoy.com/ on the Web.
EDITORS: Cross+Road is spelled with a "+" in the middle and no "s" on the end.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog