Leading a church to reduce debt

Let me share briefly my situation and see whether there are some ideas out there to help. I began service in October as Interim Senior Pastor of a suburban congregation whose pastor served for 27 years. The church is a bit more than 50 years old. They experienced solid and steady growth for most of the pastor's 27 years, so much so that they went through several building projects, the last of which was a new sanctuary that seats up to 900.

However, shortly after the sanctuary was completed, attendance and giving began to drop off. There do not seem to have been major issues that caused people to leave ... it is just that this is an area with a high transition rate. The immediate area around the church now has a significant immigrant population, and, although the church is multiracial, it is rather middle-class in appearance, style, etc.

To finance the construction, loans were taken out, and capital campaigns were conducted. The first campaign had a duration of five years and raised money to begin the construction (I do not at this time know how much was raised). A followup campaign to manage the debt raised about $1 million in pledges, and the gifts are coming in on schedule). But the loss of membership has meant a decline in the main budget, and so although people were sold on the idea that giving to this more recent campaign would reduce the principal of the debt, in actuality the money has been used simply to pay the regular mortgage payments. There was not enough money in budget gifts to do that and pay all other expenses as well. So, obviously, a credibility gap exists.

Since my arrival there has been a slight uptick in attendance and giving, though very few new members. There is much talk about how we need to get new members in order to bring in more money! I hammer away at the notion that inviting people to join the church for financial purposes is off the mark spiritually and will not work anyway ... people will "smell" that right away.

So we are thinking about what we can do about a debt that is right at $3.8 million. The membership is about 1100, the average attendance about 315, the budget (including mortgage payments) about $1.2 million.

We can:

• Try to refinance the loan at a better interest rate (they are paying 7.5%) and extend the term so that the payments are reduced;
• Opt to sell church bonds and thus refinance the debt in a different way;
• Reduce expenses by cutting staff (they carry two full-time ministers plus support staff, with the senior pastor slot vacant except for moi);
• Try yet another campaign (but this is bringing cries about asking the same people to give more and more).

What else do members of this group suggest? It goes without saying, perhaps, that we in the pastoral staff have taken hold and are beginning to make sure that responsible stewardship is taught and that non-anxious prayer is modeled. Assuming my health and energy hold out -- I will be 70 next month -- I feel committed to guiding them through this issue so that they can afford a new senior pastor and can operate ministries that truly touch lives.

If anyone is interested in knowing more, go to the website at www.fbcgaithersburg.org