Mortgage
One of the biggest expenses our church has every month is also one of the biggest expenses you have every month—the mortgage! From 1989 to 2006 our church bought a parsonage ($127,000), church land ($200,000), built our first church ($529,000), built our educational building ($517,000), finished our parking lot ($165,000) and expanded our church ($2,100,000). Where would you find a bank that would offer that kind of money to a group with no visible means of support! All that money (minus the qualifying down payments) came from the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod’s Church Extension Fund. Members of the WELS buy interest bearing certificates of deposit from the CEF which allows it to loan the money out to start mission churches and to expand mission-minded churches. Our total indebtedness is right around $2.1 million. You could look at it as we own everything except the last church expansion! Our interest rates are locked in for 5 years at a crack at 6%. Monthly payments rise through the years, starting low and getting higher that the loan may be paid off in 30 years or less. Currently we pay $12,048 a month (about 30% of our revenue). This is non-negotiable. Of that amount, $10,818 is interest and $1,230 is principal. Like we said, the loan is designed for a 30 year payment and it is a war of attrition at this point. Mortgage payments come from operating revenues and Building Fund offerings.
To have a home to spread the Gospel from, to have a church home to invite friends and relatives to, to have a church home where we can learn of God’s word in worship and Bible Study—that is a precious piece of the pie.
May 08