HESSTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network/Mennonite Church USA) – At the recent Constituency Leaders Council meetings, Mennonite Church USA executive director Ervin Stutzman announced that over the past three years a group of generous donors has made gifts toward the loan balance of the new Elkhart, Indiana, offices. The bank loan taken out at the time the building was completed in January 2012 is now paid off – years ahead of schedule.
The Mennonite Church USA offices on Benham Avenue in Elkhart, Indiana, are now debt-free. Photo courtesy of Dave Hubler Photography.
A letter to the 600+ donors who contributed to the construction costs over the past 10 years thanked them for their future-oriented gifts and their lasting impact on the church.
The Joining together, Investing in hope campaign, which raised money for the building, had three goals:
- Provide an energy-efficient, accessible and functional environment for Mennonite organizations for at least the next 50 years. This goal was achieved in January 2012.
- Closer collaboration among six Mennonite organizations, and reduced costs, through shared space, services and equipment close to the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary campus.
- Lower the annual facilities costs of these organizations from $270,000 to $170,000 per year, including an annual capital improvements reserve of $50,000, freeing at least $100,000 per year to support program ministries.
Participating organizations have been sharing the monthly loan payments from their operating budgets. The terms of the $2.1 million loan called for a balloon payment of the $1.5 million balance in March 2017. This would have needed to be refinanced at current rates for 10 more years, but beginning in December 2013, 23 generous donors contributed $1.43 million, which paid off the loan principal and saved more than $83,000 in current interest payments plus all of the future interest on a new loan.
In addition to the $6 million in original facility costs, the campaign raised $3.2 million to support the ministries of Mennonite Mission Network, Mennonite Church USA Executive Board, Racial/Ethnic Ministries and the Global Mission Fellowship.
Stutzman and Mennonite Mission Network executive director Stanley W. Green issued a joint statement of gratitude: “Both of us are grateful for God’s amazing provision, and for all our friends and donors whose generous support has enabled the ministries of the Mennonite Church to have a congenial home. We celebrate the retirement of our mortgage debt, which will allow us to say ‘Yes!’ to ministries of healing and hope at home and around the world.”
###
—Mennonite Church USA / Mennonite Mission Network staff
Photos available: MennoOfficesElkhart.jpg