CRC Loan Fund Helps Make Ministry Happen

After a decade of meeting in different locations in and around Las Vegas, Nev., Grace Valley Christian Reformed Church was finally able to open a new, 200-seat church.

Built with the help of a $700,000 loan from the Christian Reformed Church Loan Fund, the structure “is nothing fancy – just a narthex, restrooms and worship space,” says Pastor Steve Wunderink.

Even so, having a new church in the midst of the highly transient, gambling capital of the United States is an important development. “We have a sense of permanence that we never had before,” says Wunderink.

Working with the denominational loan fund, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2008, was an uplifting experience. “It was good to work with an organization that is trying to help you, that’s positive and wants the best for your ministry and your church as a whole,” says the pastor, who with his wife, Frankie, started the church in their living room in 1998.

Since its inception in 1983, the Loan Fund has made available 155 low-interest loans totaling $54 million, and helped in the purchase, construction or remodeling of more than 130 churches, says Carl Gronsman, director of the fund.

The Loan Fund is unique in that it neither solicits nor receives denominational funding, says Gronsman. “The Loan Fund is able to sustain its ministry by utilizing investments from individuals and organizations whose desire is that some of their investments not only earn reasonable rates of return but also further the work of the Kingdom.”

In fiscal 2007 and so far in 2008, 21 CRC congregations have received loans worth more than $13 million, says Gronsman. These include churches in Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Florida, Nevada, Washington, Wisconsin and Ohio. 

“The Loan Fund helped us considerably,” says Scott DeYoung, who chaired the $1.12 million capital campaign for Living Hope CRC in Fox Lake, Wisc.  DeYoung’s church raised $600,000 and borrowed $696,000 from the Loan Fund to construct its 11,000-square-foot building, which opened in late 2006.

Meanwhile, the Loan Fund loaned $352,000 to Akron CRC in Ohio to help the congregation purchase and renovate a former Christian Science Reading Room. The new 10,000-square-foot, 250-seat facility opened early in 2007.

Working with the Loan Fund was very simple, says Rev. Harry Winters, pastor of the church which is located in a historically significant section of Akron near Kent State University and Malone College.

Most of the communication for the loan took place via e-mail, says Winters. Their interest rates were “really great.” He encourages other churches to consider the Loan Fund.

For information about the Christian Reformed Church Loan Fund, call 1-616-224-0829, or e-mail [email protected].