Church pays off $1.2 million mortgage

BY BOB KIRKPATRICK

The Daily World

Imagine how liberating it would feel to be debt free. Well, the congregation of Immanuel Baptist Church in Hoquiam knows what that’s like. On Jan. 28, the church made its final payment on the mortgage for the 12,000-square-foot facility, paying off a $1.2 million loan initiated in 2008.

To celebrate, church members burned a facsimile of the mortgage. “It’s a great time for us,” said Kent Gravely, pastor of the church the past 27 years. “I think the real exciting part of all of this was our ability to pay off a good chunk of change — for us — in a short time, relatively speaking.”

“It’s a God Thing” became a common slogan as small and large “wonders” unfolded before the church throughout the building process and capital fund campaigns, Gravely said, allowing the congregation to gain a new facility and become debt free in just eight years.

The project kicked off with the first of five fund drives and site search in 1997 as the church building the group was meeting in became inadequate. The leap of faith resulted in the 2004 purchase of its nearly 15-acre site in north Hoquiam.

“We realized in our previous location on 4th and J Street— a building built in 1904 — that we were going to have to make a move — either remodel or relocate,” Gravely said. “Ultimately, we determined to relocate, and sight unseen, a congregation of 250 people made the commitment.”

The first fund drive from 1997-2000 raised $387,000.

“The leaders of the church … 10 of us made a pledge of $47,000 to encourage the congregation,” Gravely said. The members of the assembly followed suit to the tune of a three-year pledge of $340,000. “That commitment was over and above their normal giving … its evidence of their love for God, their church and their community.”

The second fund drive from 2005-2008 raised $525,00. The church group raised $350,465 from 2009-2013 on its third fund drive. From 2014-2016 members raised $318,000, and the last capital fundraiser netted $170,000 in 2016. In total, more than $1.7 million was brought in for the construction of the facility. The church paid out an additional $100,000 from its general fund in 2015 to apply toward the principle of the loan as well. The estimated value of the building is now more than $2.1 million Gravely said, which doesn’t include the value of the land on which Sonshine Park with the play fields sits.

Gravely said he was “blown away” by the commitment and generosity of the congregation in which most of the members live on fixed incomes. “They gave sacrificially.”

That was the first of many things along the way that made Gravely scratch his head in wonderment.

“When we sold the old church building in 2009 ($296,000), the economy was in real bad shape — and the fact that we were able to sell under those conditions just blows me away,” Gravely said.

The church was also able to save a lot of money in labor costs during the construction stage of the building as several members of the congregation who volunteered their time had worked in the building industry. Some community members in the trade offered their services for free also.

“When we needed a crane out here to lift heavy beams or set red iron in place for the support columns, Quigg Brothers (Construction) sent one out and did the work, but never sent us a bill for it,” Gravely said. “Rognlin’s, who did some of the work initially, donated $12,000 worth of labor.”

What really made Gravely raise his eyebrows, however, was the willingness of other churches in the area and one organization from outside the region that he said “typically doesn’t offer support to a cause like this,” volunteer an innumerable amount of hours of labor on the project.

The Hoquiam church isn’t part of the Southern Baptist Convention, the world’s largest Baptist denomination. “But we developed a relationship with a guy in Oregon who is a regional contact for the Southern Baptists. They ended up sending 15 groups of 20 to 30 craftsmen from Arizona, Texas, Alabama and Georgia to help. Each group spent two weeks at a time here and was allowed to set up camp on the neighboring Coastal Harvest property.”

Gravely said the church served over 9,000 meals to the volunteers over the 18 months it took to complete the project. The abundance of free labor was a huge six-figure boon on the bottom line cost of the church.

“With all that volunteer labor, not only from our people, but equally and maybe even more so from the outside groups, were able to save over $600,000 — that’s pretty amazing,” Gravely said.

The $1.2 million loan financed the construction of the 12,000 square-foot building that was completed and occupied in 2008. The facility enables the church to host a multitude of individuals and community organizations with various purposes; and to accommodate persons coping with or responding to emergency situations. None of which was possible at the old church building.

“Grays Harbor Community Hospital, the Hoquiam Police Department has held meetings here — the Red Cross has used the building for shelter five times in the past three years,” Gravely said. “People in the community are also welcome to use the facility for banquets, fundraisers, special occasion and the like.”

There are also two softball fields on the property and plans for a soccer field, which are and will be made available to the public as well.

“We went into the project with the mindset of building something the community could use and by God’s grace we were able to do that,” Gravely said.

Two phases of expansion are planned down the road, but no dates have been set as of yet. The first phase would add an education wing. The second phase will increase the seating capacity from 450 to 700 in the sanctuary.

Members of the Immanuel Baptist Church in Hoquiam celebrate the final payment on their mortgage Jan. 28 by burning a facsimile of their $1.2 million loan initiated in 2008.