FROM THE DESK OF
Rev. Dr. Patrick G. Duggan, Executive Director

A NEW WAY TO BEGIN AT GENESIS

In August 2019 the United Church of Christ Church Building & Loan Fund did something that, to our knowledge, had never been done in the Fund’s 166-year history. The respective boards of the Church Building & Loan Fund and the United Church of Christ Cornerstone Fund voted to approve joint financing of a $3.6 million loan to Genesis Worship Center, a nondenominational church located in Oakland, California. READ MORE >>

THE SECRET SAUCE OF CHURCH UNDERWRITING

In its storied 165-year history, the entity now known as the United Church of Christ Church Building & Loan Fund has endured through many transitions, including at least four name changes. In 1902, then under the name Congregational Church Building Society (CBS), the Fund made its first mortgage loans to churches. For 50 years prior, CBS had developed a track record of success through a grant model; raising funds from established Congregational churches and individuals to build over 2,700 new churches in the western and southern frontiers of our young country. […] READ MORE >>

measuring the end of poverty

Half of the population of the United States is poor or low income and yet Americans are conditioned to believe that poverty is an injudicious choice by people who have ample opportunity to prosper. The flaunting of wealth and affluence in our media, extreme wealth in the U.S economy, and the ethos of our consumerist culture create a sense that poverty is the exception, not the rule.  Millions of families have fashioned their lifestyles to never see poor people, distancing themselves from the need to alleviate oppression. […] READ MORE >>

WEALTH & POWER: WHAT 21ST CENTURY PROGRESSIVE CHURCH LEADERS SHOULD LEARN FROM FORMER SLAVES

Recently, my lifelong study of African American history led me to what was perhaps the most comprehensive U.S. government study of religious traditions in American history, Report on statistics of churches in the United States at the eleventh census: 1890. Henry K. Carroll, special agent.  Of the dozen or so times over 100 years that the report was conducted, the 1890 report contains the most extensive data set of all the reports. […] READ MORE >>

Mission Driven by the Numbers Part 1

A plan is only as good as the results it produces, however. Performance toward goals and objectives suggests that our plan was highly effective. With one year to go, CB&LF is on track to exceed performance in 11 objectives, and meet expected performance in one. Meeting objectives attains goals. Attaining goals drives mission. Advancing the mission leads to realization of the vision. […]
READ MORE >>

Mission Driven by the Numbers Part 2: Return On Mission (ROM)

The need for developing metrics to determine strategic impact was the focus of my previous article on this topic. As we have gone deeper into the work of developing impact metrics for CB&LF we have discovered many different approaches to this work. […] READ MORE >>