Dear Quest,
In preparation for the Congregational Business Meeting this Sunday, January 31st, at 7:00 PM, the Elder Team wants you to be informed about the issue on the table. We think this is actually an exciting opportunity to be better stewards of the resources God has put at our disposal. The issue has to do with refinancing the loan we have for the building at 17126 Manchester Road in Wildwood, the place we call the home of Quest Church.
The primary points we want you to understand are as follows:
- Our financials are strong (As shown in our fiscal year end Town Hall Meetings and vote on the Budget)
- Considering the strength in our financial position, low interest rates and the state of the economy the Elder team discussed the opportunity to re-finance our mortgage.
- We found Commercial Mortgage refinance to be an interesting adventure with potentially high cost and interest rates that are more than for the residential refinance market.
- We looked at three potential opportunities:
- Loan modification with our current provider
- Refinance with Midwest BankCenter
- Refinance with Cass Commercial Bank’s Church Division.
- The results of our discovery are reflected on the attached sheet.
Our decision was to refinance with Midwest BankCenter for the following reason (in no particular order)
- Interest Rate was the lowest resulting in the lowest monthly payment.
- Midwest BankCenter is a local community bank based in St. Louis with a genuine concern for reinvesting in St. Louis
- Midwest BankCenter (MWB) has as part of its mission to develop programs for less fortunate areas of our city and those that reside in those communities.
- We see an opportunity to potentially come alongside MWB in their efforts to serve. To that end we are working to schedule a meeting with Orv Kimbrough, CEO of MWB as soon as March or April, discuss any possible synergies between their interests and ours.
- ABOUT MIDWEST BANKCENTER: (taken directly from publications from Midwest BankCentre)
- Midwest BankCentre has been St. Louis’ premier community bank since 1906. We Bank Our Values by investing capital profitably in our whole community and reinvesting customers’ local deposits locally. When you bank with us, you Bank Your Values® because your mortgage, line of credit or business loan has real returns within the community. Each dollar deposited with us circulates throughout the regional economy 6x, on average. As we help local families and businesses prosper, they lift their friends, neighbors and customers so that everyone can DREAM BIG and RISE TOGETHER.
Vision:
- Midwest BankCentre is a values based financial institution who influences and advances our communities by empowering people, enabling business and energizing neighborhoods.
Values:
- We believe in strong relationships grounded in community.
- We believe in the power of teamwork to provide our customers with excellent service.
- We value diversity and inclusion, it is a source of our competitive advantage and impact.
- We value bringing unsurpassed service to the communities we serve through digital technology and innovation.
- We value being private, it allows us to take a long-term view and DREAM BIG and RISE TOGETHER.
We hope this is not too much to share but we think it covers all the points and we want you to be as informed as possible.
Our By-Laws are a little unclear whether we needed to make this a congregational vote or if the Elder Team could make the decision. In an effort to exercise as much integrity as we can we decided to make it a congregational decision. Thank you for being the body of Christ and seeking along with us the will of God for our activities.
Below you will also see an Excel spreadsheet with all the numbers of the three options we considered.
We love you all and look forward to doing the business of the church together,
The Elder Team
Quest Church is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting on Sunday, January 31st at 7pm:
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88950690954
Meeting ID: 889 5069 0954
Passcode: 004232