Just as the COVID-19 pandemic started to cool down, another situation was heating up inside the sanctuary at Merrell United Methodist Church.
Patricia Tabois, a lay leader at the Lauderdale Lake church, describes the uncomfortable situation.
“When Pastor had wanted to come back to face to face, the AC just decided it was not going to cooperate,” Tabois said. “And it didn’t.”
Her church, like much of the world, transitioned to online gatherings with the help of video conferencing tools and social media in early 2020. As sanctuary temps rose under the Broward County sun in early 2021, getting parishioners to consider coming back to in-person events would be a challenge.
At first, Tabois and her church members looked to repair the large, multi-ton unit.
“Well, you can’t fix a humongous 20-ton or whatever it is AC,” Tabois said. “It was just not going to be fixed.”
“We are mindful of the Conference’s push to have us not worry so much about buildings to do church, but to actually just do church. … At the same time, there are certain things we have to do.” – Patricia Tabois, lay leader at Merrell UMC
The total cost of the new HVAC system would be a little over $50,000. After some discernment, Tabois and the church’s trustees would opt to get a low-interest church loan from the foundation to cover the cost of the AC, install impact windows in their parsonage and make other improvements the church needed.
Investors in the Foundation’s Development Fund support United Methodist churches and related agencies around the state of Florida, all while earning interest. This, in turn, allows the Foundation to lend money at a competitive rate for construction, refinancing, renovation and capital improvements for an eligible church or agency,
While Tabois knows her church ministry is about more than “keeping the lights on,” she also recognizes these kinds of capital improvements are necessary to focus on transforming lives through the gospel.
“We are mindful of the Conference’s push to have us not worry so much about buildings to do church, but to actually just do church,” Tabois said. “We understand that. But at the same time, there are certain things we have to do.”
Church property with potential
The leaders at Merrell recognized that they should act as good stewards by managing all the gifts they have, not just their finances.
With a small chapel at the south end of their property, they recognized the potential to use the space to bless others in their community.
“It was just in total state of neglect and disrepair,” Tabois said. “And we figured that we’d love to be more of a partner in the community, especially in the religious community”
By bringing the chapel back to a usable state, Merrell was able to establish a new partnership with another church in the area, one that didn’t have its own space to gather.
The final issue Merrell had to tackle was on the north end of their property, parked in plain sight.
“. We got the bus for the preschool, and it was delivered in February, end of February, of 2020,” Tabois said. “And you know what happened the very next two months?”
The new bus would sit unused, with under 100 miles on it, for much of the pandemic. But that was out of the church’s control. What they could control is how much they paid in interest on their auto loan.
By refinancing with the Foundation, under the same loan as the HVAC repairs, they were able to secure a rate over 3 percentage points lower than the large commercial lender they had originally financed with.
A painless church loan process
Tabois, Merrell trustee chair Franklyn Coombs and Rev. Dr. Bancroft Williams were all part of the team effort involved in the loan process.
Tabois says the entire experience was made easier as the church already had a relationship with the Foundation, such as when they got a loan for a roof about twenty years ago.
Since that time, Tabois had developed a relationship with Andy Craske, the Foundation’s vice president of loans and investments.
“I had developed a phone relationship with Andy, who was very easy to talk to, and he would just take his time and explain whatever to you,” Tabois said. “Andy was just really on the ball and made this so easy. I cannot tell you how much I just sang his praises.”
With a cooler sanctuary, a parsonage ready for hurricane-force winds, a new community partner and some money saved, Merrell is well-prepared for church life — both in-person and online.
“The loan has had a wonderful impact on us just to where we’re growing. I mean, that’s what we’re supposed to do. We’re reaching out and we’re growing and that’s exactly what we’re supposed to do.”
Learn more about Development Fund loans for Florida churches and related agencies
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Connor is the Foundation’s communications specialist.