I just finished filling out a loan application. It is for the same lender who financed the original purchase of our property at 144th and Zuni in 2004.
The nature of applications is to acquire lots of data by asking lots of questions. The lender is trying to establish how much risk they would be exposed to if they loan you money for your endeavor. They evaluate that risk from many different angles.
Answering these questions made me think back on the history of this project. It is extremely humbling to think of the selfless contributions of so many people who have made this endeavor possible. Tim Dally (the founding pastor of Discovery), the orignial members of the land search team, Mike Emmert (the real estate consultant with CDF who contributed his invaluable knowledge and experience to move us along on this journey), the volunteers who organized and ran our initial capital funds drive, and many more.
It is relatively easy to ask questions about revenue and attendance and leadership structures to evaluate the "risk" involved in loaning money to a church to build a facility. It is safe and scientific to "run the numbers" and arrive at loan-to-value scenarios that work for the lender and borrower. Any prudent lender does this well, and a wise borrower understands the importance of knowing the fiscal dangers of borrowed money.
The difficult thing to evaluate in a loan application are the intangibles that are inherent in a faith-based organization. What question can you ask to obtain a loyalty factor, or a determination quotiant? Where is the formula to figure out motivation and drive? And most importantly, how do you calculate the amount of faith it takes to bridge the gap between what people can do together, and what only God can do?
Jesus once said that a mustard seed-sized quatity of faith could cause a mountain to be moved. I hope that when we run the numbers we are one mustard seed short. Seeing a mountain move would be an awesome experience.
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