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MISSION INVESTMENT FUND
2017 ANNUAL REPORTPRESIDENT'S LETTER
Each year, as the lending ministry of the ELCA, MIF finances essential building projects that enable congregations and ministries to reach out in new and different ways. And we hear the stories of congregations that face challenges and respond creatively. They come to us in all shapes and sizes. We celebrate with members as they tell of how God answered a prayer in one place and how the impact rippled through the church, across the community and into all the world. These places of ministry are living witnesses to “a world experiencing the difference God’s grace and love in Christ makes for all people and creation.” *
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A MISSION MADE CLEAR, OUTREACH MADE POSSIBLE
Gethsemane Lutheran Church / Minneapolis, MN
Gethsemane Lutheran Church has been part of the Lind-Bohanon neighborhood of north Minneapolis for 125 years. For more than 30 of those years, a privately run day care center on the church property was indispensable to area families.
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MAKING THE MOST OF AN EXTRAORDINARY OPPORTUNITY
Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church / Omaha, NE
The first Lutheran church founded west of the Missouri River, Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska, has no shortage of outreach opportunities to share with volunteers.
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ADVANCING THE ART OF MINISTRY
Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church / New York, NY
In the 1970s, Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church in Midtown Manhattan was facing myriad maintenance needs—and rising costs—with its aging, turn-of- the-century building.
YEAR IN REVIEW
The Mission Investment Fund ended 2017 in excellent financial position. MIF experienced modest loan growth for the year, and investment obligations continued their steady and consistent growth.
FIVE-YEAR SUMMARY
OVER 100 YEARS OF STRENGTH AND STABILITY
The Mission Investment Fund continues to maintain its demonstrated track record of strength and stability. In 2017, MIF recorded nearly $204 million in net assets, resulting in an equity ratio of 28.5 percent. This solid capital position significantly exceeds regulatory requirements.
STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION
$ in thousands as of December 31
STATEMENTS OF INCOME, EXPENSES AND EXCHANGES IN NET ASSETS
$ in thousands as of December 31
MIF LEADERSHIP
MISSION INVESTMENT FUND OFFICERS
EVA M. ROBY / President and Chief Executive Officer
CARMEN M. COBO / Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer
LINDA O. NORMAN / Vice President for Administration
DAVID T. DALTON / Vice President for Marketing and Sales
AMELIA DAWKINS / Vice President for Lending
LYNN MICHALAK / Vice President for Accounting
MISSION INVESTMENT FUND BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SUSAN TROUTMAN / Chair
ROBERT CHILLISON / Vice Chair
KATHRYN BAERWALD
MICHAEL F. FALLON, JR.
MARK E. FIEBRINK
NICOLE HUDSON
THE REV. MARTIN LOPEZ VEGA
THE REV. JOHN E. MACK, JR.
HEATHER MILLER
PAUL M. OPGRANDE
A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
Each year, as the lending ministry of the ELCA, MIF finances essential building projects that enable congregations and ministries to reach out in new and different ways. And we hear the stories of congregations that face challenges and respond creatively. They come to us in all shapes and sizes. We celebrate with members as they tell of how God answered a prayer in one place and how the impact rippled through the church, across the community and into all the world. These places of ministry are living witnesses to “a world experiencing the difference God’s grace and love in Christ makes for all people and creation.” *
We consider it our privilege to be part of these stories, and we love to gather and tell the story of what’s happening across our church. We are inspired and thus compelled to continue encouraging and challenging our church and our leaders to unearth the gifts that God has already placed in our midst, to recognize the new opportunities that challenges bring to us, to listen faithfully and step up in response to God’s calling us into new ways of being church.
This year we highlight the stories of three ELCA congregations that have taken bold action to go into the world in service of their neighbors.
In north Minneapolis, Gethsemane Lutheran Church heeded the call of its diverse community for the need for quality, affordable child care. With the help of an MIF loan, the church succeeded in refurbishing a vacated daycare space and bringing a caring program back to life—and delivering a much-needed safe haven for the children of working parents.
In Omaha, the region’s oldest Lutheran church, Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church, made a bold commitment to expand its health care services. With the assistance of an MIF loan, this church built a 17,500-square-foot facility housing two medical clinics, a behavioral health clinic, a pharmacy and a food pantry. Kountze is partnering with Lutheran Family Services and Methodist Health System to provide these services, and this model facility has become a shining ray of hope in downtown Omaha.
Finally, in Midtown Manhattan, another church is reaching out its arms in service to the hungry and homeless, to those with HIV and AIDS, to Latino populations and more. With an MIF loan to renovate existing spaces and refurbish an architectural gem of a chapel, Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church is welcoming and caring for all—and nurturing the arts—in the city that never sleeps.
We are grateful to these congregations and so many others that sustain members and this church with vibrant worship and purposeful ministry—and look to the Mission Investment Fund, a strong, stable institution, for their financial needs. We are grateful to the individual members of the ELCA who invest with us. Thank you for the trust you place in us. May you also be inspired and compelled to respond to however and wherever God is showing up and calling you into the story.
Blessings,
Eva M. Roby
President and CEO
June 2018
*The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton
Presiding Bishop, ELCA
“Called Forward Together in Christ”
MAKING THE MOST
OF AN EXTRAORDINARY OPPORTUNITY
Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church, Omaha NE
The first Lutheran church founded west of the Missouri River, Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska, has no shortage of outreach opportunities to share with volunteers.
One ministry is particularly striking. Since 2010, Kountze has sponsored a health clinic on church property—with family health services free to those in need of basic medical care. This Healing Gift Free Clinic, fully staffed by volunteers, was co- founded by two, longtime church members, Drs. Jerry Fischer and Bob Fonda.
In 2015, opportunity knocked for Kountze Memorial. Twice. The TV station next door offered to sell Kountze Memorial its property, and Omaha’s Methodist Hospital learned the building that was home to its nearby community clinic was being razed.
The confluence of these events encouraged the members of Kountze Memorial to think larger. They envisioned a new facility that could offer a large, permanent space for Kountze’s free clinic—and add space for a paying tenant, Methodist Hospital. Kountze’s food pantry, too, could move to larger quarters in the new building.
Dr. Fonda recalls the original church home for these ministries: “At first, the food pantry was just a closet with a little bit of food donated by church members. For the clinic, the church graciously made four closet-sized areas into exam rooms.”
“Expanding our ministry and embarking on this building was something we wanted to do,” Dr. Fischer says. “The question was, would anybody back it? Could we get people to understand what we were trying to do? We had the need, we went to the Mission Investment Fund, and when the loan was approved so quickly, it took about 12,000 tons of weight off the congregation.”
The new Kountze Commons opened in October 2017. The food pantry occupies the lower level, and the medical exam space, alternately used by the Methodist Community Health Clinic and the Healing Gift Free Clinic, is on the upper level. The building also houses space where Lutheran Family Services provides mental health care, and a fully licensed pharmacy, where Healing Gift patients can fill prescriptions to treat high blood pressure, diabetes and pulmonary disease, all free of charge.
“Many of the patients might live on $500 a month,” Dr. Fischer said, “and if their medications cost them hundreds of dollars, they’re not going to survive. MIF’s building loan has allowed us to provide truly needy individuals
as close to comprehensive care as is possible in this type of environment.” Generous contributions by church members and other donors facilitate continuous operations.
With the completion of Kountze Commons and the ongoing dedication of the many volunteers, Dr. Fischer says each patient in the clinic and each visitor to the food pantry walk away with a powerful message. “That is, ‘We see you, you are important, and we care.’ They all hear that. That’s why we’re here.”
A MISSION MADE CLEAR, OUTREACH MADE POSSIBLE
Gethsemane Lutheran Church,
Minneapolis, MN
Gethsemane Lutheran Church has been part of the Lind-Bohanon neighborhood of north Minneapolis for 125 years. For more than 30 of those years, a privately run day care center on the church property was indispensable to area families.
Then, one day in 2014, Gethsemane’s pastor, the Rev. Jeff Nehrbass, learned the operators would be moving the day care center several miles away. “That put us in a real pickle,” Pastor Nehrbass says, “because the day care provided so many resources to our community.”
Gethsemane asked its Lind-Bohanon neighbors for guidance on what mission the church should next take on, and their answer was emphatic.
“They told us: We need the day care to continue. Keeping our children safe is one of the core neighborhood issues,” Pastor Nehrbass recalls. “But we didn’t have a clue how to make it happen.”
Still, the congregation didn’t shrink back. “We moved forward in faith,” Pastor Nehrbass says. “We knew God wanted us here. The neighborhood was becoming a part of the fabric of our church, and we had to do this.”
Gethsemane approached a local bank and another lender about a loan to refurbish and re-equip the day care space, but both turned the church away. The pastor from nearby Lord of Life Lutheran Church, one of Gethsemane’s mission partners, suggested Pastor Nehrbass contact the Mission Investment Fund.
“MIF had a very clear sense of what we were trying to do,” Pastor Nehrbass says. “They could see the community impact that was being made and that folks were making their way into the life of the church.”
MIF’s loan enabled Gethsemane to create a lively, updated child care space. Now, Pastor Nehrbass reports, “We have 27 volunteers here four or five days a week, our day care center has 50 kids, and our food program has almost tripled in size since we opened the day care. The ministry piece is going gangbusters.”
Through Gethsemane’s interaction with MIF, Pastor Nehrbass witnessed the vital role that MIF plays in facilitating outreach, not only for large congregations but also for small, neighborhood churches like his own.
“The great value of MIF came through once we were clear on what we thought God was telling us,” Pastor Nehrbass says. “What a lifesaver to have a part of the larger church help us secure resources to implement that mission and vision.”
ADVANCING THE ART OF MINISTRY
Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church, New York, NY
In the 1970s, Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church in Midtown Manhattan was facing myriad maintenance needs—and rising costs—with its aging, turn-of- the-century building.
Then a door opened. Looking to build a signature headquarters tower, Citibank and Saint Peter’s formed a unique condominium relationship so the tower and a new Saint Peter’s Church could be built. Completed in 1977, the tower was constructed on 100-foot supports with room at ground level for an entirely rebuilt Saint Peter’s Church.
The congregation then began “a kind of ministry that took the neighborhood seriously,” says the current pastor, the Rev. Amandus Derr. The church became even more of a reflection of the surrounding community, with gallery spaces for visual artists, a black box theater, and a jazz program with weekly summer concerts and a jazz liturgy every Sunday afternoon.
That devotion to the arts was also evident in the church’s Chapel of the Good Shepherd, designed by celebrated sculptor Louise Nevelson. “It’s a treasure in the city,” says Pastor Derr of the chapel, defined by magnificent wood sculptures, all painted white and affixed to the walls. The work is timeless, but the materials used were not, and heat and humidity have caused major deterioration of the sculptures.
A Mission Investment Fund loan has allowed Saint Peter’s to begin the extensive renovation of the chapel and the artwork. At the same time, the loan is enabling the church to make essential repairs and upgrades to create a more functional and safer building, with new windows, a new HVAC system and more efficient lighting.
“MIF was really excited and eager to help us out,” Pastor Derr says. “It was a breath of fresh air that said the ministry we’re doing at Saint Peter’s is important.”
With MIF’s loan reserved for building renovation, Saint Peter’s is allocating other resources to fund its far- reaching ministry efforts. Saint Peter’s has programs that touch the city’s homeless people, those suffering with HIV/AIDS, and seniors.
Saint Peter’s has also forged a special relationship with the congregation of Iglesia Luterana de Sion, the largest Spanish-language Lutheran church in New York City. In 2012, following the collapse of their own church building, Sion found a new home at Saint Peter’s and holds Spanish- language services in the church every Sunday.
“Today, we are recognized for ministry to the community in east Midtown New York,” Pastor Derr says. “Our mission statement is, ‘Creatively shaping life in the city,’ and that’s exactly how the congregation functions.”
YEAR IN REVIEW
The Mission Investment Fund ended 2017 in excellent financial position. MIF experienced modest loan growth for the year, and investment obligations continued their steady and consistent growth.
Total loans outstanding rose to $539.1 million at December 31, 2017, an increase of $15.2 million over the $523.9 million in loans outstanding recorded at December 31, 2016. The number of MIF loans rose to 888 from 860 at year-end 2016. Total investment obligations increased to $506.0 million at December 31, 2017, from $473.5 million at December 31, 2016.
Total assets rose to $715.7 million at December 31, 2017, up from $678.0 million at year-end 2016. Net assets, or equity, rose to $203.9 million at December 31, 2017, up from $198.1 million the year prior. As a result, our capital ratio remained strong at 28.5 percent. Maintaining this position of strength and stability is vital to the long-term sustainability of MIF.
As we focus on financial results of this lending ministry, we also work to bolster our partnerships within the church.
Again in 2017, the Mission Investment Fund continued its annual tradition of providing nearly $2 million to support the congregations and ministries of the ELCA. In addition, MIF supports a variety of synodical and churchwide events throughout the year.
We continue to provide management guidance to our new sister ministry, the ELCA Federal Credit Union, now celebrating its second anniversary. We are delighted that the credit union has received the highest regulatory ranking possible—and now is able to expand its product portfolio by offering small ministry loans. This new capability will contribute to the credit union’s competitiveness, vitality and growth.
Together, MIF and the credit union are cooperating with the ELCA on its new initiative, Resourceful Servants, an effort to enhance the savings and financial acumen of the church’s rostered leaders. MIF was an active participant in the design of this program, and we continue to provide financial support.
In the wake of the tumultuous hurricane season of 2017, MIF was able to assist several of our loan customers affected by the storms. MIF provided temporary relief from loan payments to congregations and ministries in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico—allowing these congregations and ministries to focus their energy and resources on more immediate needs.
As the ELCA looks to the decade ahead with its Future Directions 2025, the Mission Investment Fund continues to implement strategies supporting the church as it becomes what we believe God is calling us to be.