GOOD risks
What's happening with Congregational Development in Holston?

By Annette Bender

When the Committee on Congregational Development provided $368,000 to buy nearly 17 acres for a new congregation in Chattanooga District, they knew risks were involved.

MOST PEOPLE UNDERSTAND that good ministry involves risks, but risks seem riskier when involving large sums of conference money, according to Becky Hall, chair of the Committee on Congregational Development.

"You can never take lightly those apportionment monies that people pay," says Hall. "We try to be very responsible and do our homework when making those decisions. But sometimes you have to take risks in order to have successes. And sometimes there are failures."

Holston Conference has both successes and failures in its congregational development history, but the 12- member Committee on Congregational Development hopes that several recent actions will lead to a higher proportion of success.

In May, the conference committed $368,000 for Lighthouse United Methodist Church, a five-year-old congregation that has worshipped in an unairconditioned warehouse as they searched for a home.

In August, the conference began paying 100 percent salary support for a preacher who is already ministering to inner-city Knoxville.

In December, the committee will consider dropping interest rates on loans for Holston churches from prime rate to a more church-friendly three- to four-percent range.

In addition, the 20-year-old Builders Club has been reemphasized in an attempt to get individuals to make regular contributions to the funding of church relocations and mergers as well as new congregations and ministries.

The Committee on Congregational Development relies on a budget from conference apportionments as well as Builders Club support and Holston Conference Foundation funds, conference leaders say.

In 2005, the Committee on Congregational Development budget is $583,882. In 2006, the budget will be $599,900. Not all the money can be spent because, traditionally, the conference receives only about 90 percent of Fair Share apportionments. The committee's priorities are new congregations, mergers, relocations, and "local church revitalization in a growing area" - in that order - according to the Rev. Bill Kilday, Holston's director of congregational development.

The way the budget is spent reflects those priorities, according to Hall.

While the Lighthouse property accounts for a large part of the 2005 and 2006 budgets, some of the remaining monies are spent on Percept, a demographic service that Holston pastors may use (see "Resources," page 7); pastor training for new congregations; Builders Club expenses; and a "Special Ministries Fund" that pays salaries for pastors of new churches or pastors of missional ministries.

Pastors who are currently benefiting from the Special Ministries Fund include the Rev. Richard Richter, Lighthouse UMC; the Rev. Jeff Wadley, Sycamore Tree UMC in Maryville District; the Rev. Mike Feely, Chattanooga District coordinator of Hispanic ministries; the Rev. Van Sanks, Virginia Avenue UMC in Knoxville District; and the Rev. Barry Kidwell, Forrest Avenue UMC in Chattanooga District.

The conference is also paying the salary of an inner-city Knoxville preacher who will be leading a ministry known as "Cokesbury in the City." The Rev. Larry Mathis is a Baptist preacher, with a goal to become United Methodist, who has established a relationship with the Five Points community, according to the Rev. Stella Roberts, Knoxville District superintendent.

The ministry is operating out of a middle school but the goal is to establish a new church through Mathis, currently on the staff of Cokesbury UMC. "It's a covenant agreement - a partnership with Cokesbury Church, Knoxville District, and Holston Conference," Roberts said. "We're presently trying to nail down that relationship and the responsibilities that each of the parties will have."

Grants and loans
In the past, a portion of the Committee on Congregational Development budget has been used for grants. For instance, the conference recently paid off a $45,000 grant to assist with the merger/relocation of Whitwell UMC in Chattanooga District. Grants have been awarded to, among others, Cherokee UMC in Johnson City District and to the Carpenter's House at Knox Area Rescue Ministries, Hall said.

The Lighthouse investment postpones the possibility of any new grants for local churches until later in 2006, Hall said. However, "we don't want people to think there's no reason to ask for grants," she added. "We want to be in tune with, and to respond to, churches' needs, especially if there's a unique opportunity that might not be around in a year.

"Our priorities for grants are new churches, mergers and relocations, cooperative parishes, and new missional ministries," Hall said. "We want to help churches be creative about how they can grow in unique ways that are compatible with their settings."

Instead of grants, some churches might benefit from loans from the conference, she said.

"The Holston Conference Foundation does such a good job of administering our grants and loans. We're working on our interest rates to make it easier for churches to get loans from us."

The Holston Conference Foundation has eight different accounts that make congregational grants or loans, according to Roger Redding, executive director. Twelve churches in Holston have active loans that they are currently paying back. About $2.1 million is currently available for loans through funds such as the Ben St. Clair New Church Starts Endowment, the Earl and Conchita Blazer Endowment, or the Holston Conference Colleges Endowment.

The goal is to get more loan money out to Holston churches, Kilday said.

"In the past, our interest rates have been prohibitive," he said, explaining that the conference's interest rate for loans was 7.5 percent until it was changed to prime rate. At those rates, it was more economical for churches to approach lending institutions rather than the conference, Kilday said.

"It's nobody's fault. Once upon a time that's what money was being lent for, but times have changed and we haven't changed fast enough," he said.

In December, the Committee on Congregational Development will consider setting the interest rates for loans based on the "historic inflation rate," Kilday said, in the three- to four-percent range. If approved, the interest rate will be effective immediately. Existing loans with higher interest rates will likely be reviewed by the committee, Hall said.

"We want to make it easier for churches to get loans from the conference," she said. "Loans for churches are often considered high risk by loan companies. Churches usually don't have a lot of collateral, and nobody likes to foreclose on a church - it's bad press. We want to be a service to our churches."

Be a builder
In the late 1980s, the Builders Club had 9,900 members who were each asked to contribute $50 a year. By 2000, membership dwindled to 3,500. Today, 133 members are recorded as active givers.

Over the years, changes in personnel and committees caused the Builders Club to "get lost," Hall explained. "And yet, this was such a wonderful way for people to participate in church development."

By distributing new brochures at Annual Conference in June and at charge conferences this fall, the Committee on Congregational Development hopes to stir up interest in the Builders Club and generate new funds. In this latest "Be a Builder" launch, members are invited to give any amount of money semiannually or annually.

The goal is to raise total pledges from the current level of $31,110, Kilday said. In 2000, the Builders Club generated about $100,000 annually. More than $4 million has been raised since the club's inception. The funds are administered through the Foundation.

"The idea behind the Builders Club is that every member of every local church can be a part of new churches or revitalization," said Hall. "If everyone would give a little, it would make a difference."

In fact, congregational development is dependent on individual contributions, Redding said.

"While volunteers and staff shoulder much of the decision making concerning grants and loans, the majority of funds to support and sustain congregational development come from and depend upon the generosity and vision of people who help plant and nurture churches through their gifts and estates," he said. "The conference cannot do this without generous people who give 'extra mile' gifts."

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