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NEWS RELEASE for immediate release
United Methodist Development Fund Has $30 Million to Lend

Contact:

Office of Public Relations
Lesley Crosson

475 Riverside Drive
Room 350
New York, NY 10115

Tel: (212) 870-3916
Fax: (212) 870-3748

E-mail:
lcrosson@gbgm-umc.org





NEW YORK--The United Methodist Development Fund (UMDF) is making available $30 million for loans to United Methodist churches and church-related institutions seeking financing to construct new buildings or improve existing ones for mission and ministry.

The Fund is a ministry of the General Board of Global Ministries.

Over the past six months, UMDF has been the beneficiary of large infusions of money for investments from individuals and church agencies, including the General Council on Finance and Administration, according to Fund President Bishop Jonathan Keaton. This enabled the Fund's Board of Directors to end a six-month moratorium on loans.

"We have a reservoir of United Methodists who continue to be concerned about church growth-not just in their own neighborhoods but throughout the denomination. These same people are also attracted to the Fund by the great interest rates," Keaton said.

The investments, which pay interest every six months, form the pool of money used to finance loans for renovation, construction, and property purchase.

The interest rates for new loans currently is 8.50 % for a 15-year term.

Over the past two years, UMDF has financed more that $81 million in loans, the highest number in its 40 years of existence. The unprecedented number of loans granted is an indication of the Fund's "vigorous health and ongoing commitment to assisting churches and institutions who need space to grow in their ministries," said Sam Dixon, staff executive for the Fund.

Dixon explained that community-based mission institutions, which provide vital services like day care and after-school programs, sometimes are not attractive applicants to conventional lenders because of the nature of their ministry and financial undergirding. They, along with churches housed in older structures or in structures with inadequate space, are ideal candidates to seek construction financing through the Fund.

One recent satisfied loan recipient is the Rev. Craig A. Parrish, pastor of Fairwood Church, in Washington. His congregation added a multi-purpose room with space for an inter-generational vacation church school and expanded youth ministry with the help of UMDF financing. "Without the resources of UMDF," Parrish wrote, "we would not have been able to secure the necessary funding for our dreams."

For loan information or applications contact the GBGM Office of Loan Administration at (212) 870-3865. The Fund's web site also contains information, interest rates, and stories from churches that have improved their facilities with the help of UMDF loans

October 15, 2001

General Board of Global Ministries
United Methodist Church
475 Riverside Drive - New York, New York 10115
1-800-UMC-GBGM