Based on last year’s appraisal, our current grounds and facility are valued at $5.1 million. We currently owe $2.1 million on our mortgage. At our refinancing last year, we reduced our mortgage rate from 4.75% to 3.65%. That will save us over $250,000 over the current life of our loan(!), which is now scheduled to be sixteen years.Â
Mortgages work differently in the church world. There are fewer options and higher rates (lenders don’t like to create any scenarios in which they may have to foreclose on a church!). When we refinanced in 2021, we were very fortunate to lock in this lower rate for ten years. Typically, church mortgages get adjusted every five years. Given the current market fluctuations, and inflation rates, our desire to pay off (or drastically reduce) the amount we owe over the life of the loan grows tremendously. For each dollar we reduce the mortgage we save another 80 cents over the life of the loan.
Our goal in this stewardship journey is to raise $90,000 toward debt reduction. That is $30,000 for each of the three decades we have existed as a church. That may seem a fairly modest goal, but it pushes us further down the road toward paying off our mortgage. Currently our mortgage is about $14,000/month. That allows us to do a lot of ministry. And to invite friends and neighbors to a beautiful place to worship. But imagine what we can do with those funds once the mortgage is gone!