Opportunity
The interest rate on the bank loan commitment was fixed for five years and subject to refinancing in June 2021. As 2021 and the end of the five-year term approached, the SonRise leadership team worked and prayed to find a way to both refinance their bank loan and pay back their church members. At the end of 2020, SonRise had paid down much of their loan but still had a remaining balance to pay off. The church members were extremely gracious, but SonRise was hopeful to pay them back, at least a substantial amount, in the same timeframe as the bank loan.
The goal was to take advantage of better interest rates and extend a fixed rate for longer than five years. SonRise didn’t personally know anyone from the Ministry Solutions’ team, but through network connections and positive word of mouth Keith Hammer, Executive Pastor at SonRise Church, had been keeping Ministry Solutions top of mind in the event his church had a building project or refinance need. This led him to contact the Ministry Solutions’ team in January 2021.
Ministry Solutions
Tom Gordon, Ministry Solutions’ Director of Finance, led SonRise’s loan refinance. Tom created a strategy to accommodate SonRise’s specific financial situation in the Covid-stressed environment. He helped bankers understand the church environment and provided the information they needed to make SonRise an attractive client. This personalized approach resulted in two loan offers from competing banks bidding for the business.
The Outcome
SonRise achieved its goal of a lower interest rate and longer payoff term. With Tom’s guidance and management of this deal, they significantly decreased their loan terms’ interest rate and went from a 5-year commitment to a 10-year period with the decreased rate. With the money saved from the restructured loan, SonRise was able to honor their church members’ generosity and completely repay them!
