Fiscally Responsible Church that Struggled with Bookkeeping

Context Understood

Dallas Chin Baptist Church (DCBC), a relatively young church, is a church made up of refugees who fled Burma to escape political and religious oppression. The Chin people are very frugal, yet very generous, and DCBC was able to demonstrate this by saving a large amount of cash to purchase their first building. The church was able to save money, but the lack of consistency in their bookkeeping, made it difficult to communicate their financial history to a lender. In this situation, the financials were done by volunteers that changed on a yearly basis.

Options Compared and Solutions Implemented

Church Realty (SRI) was hired by DCBC to evaluate their financial situation, build a financial package and shop their loan to lenders so that DCBC could purchase a church building. While DCBC was able to get a loan proposal from a denominational lender, the terms were not practical for the church because of the structure of the loan. While the terms of the denominational lender’s proposal were not practical, they also skewed the expectations of the church as the interest rate was low.

DCBC needed to secure a loan fairly quickly, as they had a building under contract. SRI was tasked with finding lenders who would do the loan. The loan package was completed and presented to lenders. While several lenders declined due to a series of concerns, SRI was able to address the concerns and secure loan proposals from three lenders. SRI helped DCBC understand the loan proposals and worked to make sure DCBC got the best deal from each lender. With SRI’s help, DCBC was able to share their financial story with these lenders in a way that helped them obtain financing for their project.

Ministry Maximized

SRI drafted a loan request and built a loan package in a language that lenders use. SRI came alongside DCBC and set out to provide a solution that met the defined goals of DCBC, while clearly addressing the financial realities of church. The loan request and package helped the lenders understand the ministry, motivations, and needs of the church. SRI was able to help DCBC understand the how lenders would view and respond to their financial situation, which helped set proper expectations for the current church lending environment. In the end, DCBC was able choose the lender and loan that would allow them to devote their time and energy towards advancing their mission of spreading the Gospel, while SRI focused on serving DCBC by bringing financing solutions for their project.

Note: SRI does not provide bookkeeping services. If you are in need of bookkeeping services, we can refer your church to groups who can assist you.