[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.22.1″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
On Thursday, December 17, 2020, the amount of total loan<\/a> approvals extended by\u00a0Disciples Church Extension Fund<\/a> (DCEF) to congregations in need exceeded one billion dollars. Now in its 138th year, the financial ministry offers investments to individuals, churches and church organizations; building and capital services, including capital fundraising, building planning and evaluation, and building disaster response services; ministry re-envisioning programs through Hope Partnership Services<\/a>, a part of DCEF; and, support for the new church movement of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada through New Church Ministry<\/a>, also a part of DCEF. To many, however, the ministry is best known for the financial aid it has provided to congregations in the form of more than 13,670 loans. Just since the year 2000, more than half of this total — $565.7 million — has been approved for 1,509 loans.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are so proud to have reached this milestone with our denomination and our partners in ministry by serving churches in every region of the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico,\u201d notes Erick D. \u2018Rick\u2019 Reisinger, Disciples Church Extension Fund President. \u201cFor six generations, Disciples have been helping Disciples through the services we offer, including investments which fund the low interest loans we make to congregations. In this way, Disciples have been able to invest in their future and their faith.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n When founded the Church Extension Fund, as it was then called, totaled just $2,605 — all of it donated by four attendees of the 1883 General Christian Missionary Convention to provide \u2018a little timely help\u2019 to congregations in need, particularly those forming on the western frontier whose lack of a suitable house of worship was the chief hindrance to success. Today the Disciples Church Extension Fund (DCEF), as it has been known since 2012, totals more than $184 million. The very first loan from the organization that would become DCEF was made in 1884 to the First Christian Church of Atchison, Kan., for $500 — the ceiling for loans at that time and nearly one-fifth of the ministry\u2019s total assets!<\/em> More than 137 years and six generations later, the mission of DCEF remains the same: to inspire and empower congregations to create Holy Places where people connect with God, each other and the community.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On Thursday, December 17, 2020, the amount of total loan approvals extended by\u00a0Disciples Church Extension Fund (DCEF) to congregations in need exceeded one billion dollars. Now in its 138th year, the financial ministry offers investments to individuals, churches and church organizations; building and capital services, including capital fundraising, building planning and evaluation, and building disaster […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" On Thursday, December 17, 2020, the amount of total loan<\/a> approvals extended by\u00a0Disciples Church Extension Fund<\/a> (DCEF) to congregations in need exceeded one billion dollars. Now in its 138th year, the financial ministry offers investments to individuals, churches and church organizations; building and capital services, including capital fundraising, building planning and evaluation, architectural consultation and disaster response services; ministry re-envisioning programs through Hope Partnership Services<\/a>, a part of DCEF; and, support for the new church movement of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada through New Church Ministry<\/a>, also a part of DCEF. To many, however, the ministry is best known for the financial aid it has provided to congregations in the form of more than 13,670 loans. Just since the year 2000, more than half of this total -- $565.7 million -- has been approved for 1,509 loans.<\/p> \u201cWe are so proud to have reached this milestone with our denomination and our partners in ministry by serving churches in every region of the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico,\u201d notes Erick D. \u2018Rick\u2019 Reisinger, Disciples Church Extension Fund President. \u201cFor six generations, Disciples have been helping Disciples through the services we offer, including investments which fund the low interest loans we make to congregations. In this way, Disciples have been able to invest in their future and their faith.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote> When founded the Church Extension Fund, as it was then called, totaled just $2,605 -- all of it donated by four attendees of the 1883 General Christian Missionary Convention to provide \u2018a little timely help\u2019 to congregations in need, particularly those forming on the western frontier whose lack of a suitable house of worship was the chief hindrance to success. Today the Disciples Church Extension Fund (DCEF), as it has been known since 2012, totals more than $184 million. The very first loan from the organization that would become DCEF was made in 1884 to the First Christian Church of Atchison, Kan., for $500 -- the ceiling for loans at that time and nearly one-fifth of the ministry\u2019s total assets!<\/em> More than 137 years and six generations later, the mission of DCEF remains the same: to inspire and empower congregations to create Holy Places where people connect with God, each other and the community.<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2,8],"tags":[33,49,25],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n