We met and exceeded the $10,000 Mortgage Reduction Challenge in August. A heartfelt thanks to the congregational donor who made the $10,000 donation to challenge the Lord of Grace congregation. Also, a thank you to all of you who have made donations to make the challenge a success. We also wish to thank Patty Clymer, our Treasurer, and Linda Lyth, our Financial Secretary, for their effort in orchestrating the financial gymnastics involved in the challenge effort.
The amount of $21,685.56 was submitted to the ELCA Mission Investment Fund, the mortgage lender, on September 5th and was posted on September 9th to pay down the mortgage principal. As of September 22nd there has been an additional donation of $1,000 received.
Please note that the mortgage has not been paid off completely, only the principal portion of the mortgage was reduced which lowers the number of monthly payments required to pay off the mortgage in early 2026.
During the challenge I was approached by a member of the congregation who asked “When does the challenge end?” My answer was “the goal is to pay off the mortgage before the new pastor is called.” That still remains the Lord of Grace goal.
Therefore, there still is the opportunity to make donations to the Mortgage Reduction Challenge. There is a convenient method using the Lord of Grace website- Click on the “Contribute” tab followed by the “Mortgage Reduction Donate” tab and follow the instructions or using the specially marked “Mortgage Reduction” envelopes located in the Narthex.
After the mortgage is paid, looking forward, Lord of Grace has a unique opportunity to evaluate how the retired mortgage payments income can be invested, channeled to a special ministry/mission or used to launch a new ministry/mission. If you have ideas please forward them to the Church Council and/or Transition Team.
Submitted by Rod Boorse, Finance Committee