MISSION: ACCOMPLISHED BOB CHURCH / ADMINISTRATIVE PASTOR / SAGEBRUSH CHURCH / ALBUQUERQUE, NM
“ By that time, [ the bank ] said,‘ Hey, we’ re here, we get you, and we’ re available as you move forward through this process of looking for permanent facilities,” Church recalls.
As Livacari explains, the ability to move quickly from a financing perspective is possible thanks to knowable, predictable lending criteria.“ And I think we’ re very transparent, up front, about that criteria,” he adds.
Church agrees that this familiarity— not only between the bank and Sagebrush, but also with the lending process and criteria— has been essential to fueling the church’ s rapid expansion.“ When leaders of a church are making decisions about lending partners, they appreciate having good insight into what their banking partner can( and can’ t) support in the future.”
To make it work well, debt is assigned to different“ buckets,” giving Sagebrush a high degree of flexibility and offering payment options that are consistent with the ministry’ s ever-progressing vision for expansion.“ This way, we can have some short-term plans and some long-term plans that are comfortable for us,” Church says.“ It allows us to assign certain debt on a long-term basis and pay off other debt quicker, more short-term.”
Now, as the church seeks permanent facilities for its four remaining locations, this fluidity is proving instrumental. So is familiarity.
“ Our relationship with the bank has always been more dynamic than static,” Church explains.“ I have conversations with [ Livacari ] all the time where he’ s asking,‘ Where are you guys at? What are you looking at? Do we need to start looking at this property? Will that be a lendingtype situation?’”
For his part, Livacari acknowledges why he stays apprised of the church’ s attendance, financial situation and more on an ongoing basis: It ensures that he and his team know what does and doesn’ t work at Sagebrush in terms of driving and sustaining growth— critical information for making an informed lending decision.
It also enables Livacari to be transparent as Sagebrush looks to find and finance permanent facilities for its four remaining locations. This ability and willingness to be up front, honest, and quick to respond about what can( and can’ t) be done will be crucial to that endeavor.
As Church points out, this dynamic also means he and his team at Sagebrush don’ t have to start from square one every time they reach out regarding an important initiative.“ If we find a place we like, we can talk to the bank and potentially get it financed,” he says.“ Then, at least we know whether or not we have the ability to move forward. That’ s so much better than getting well down the road and finding out that financing isn’ t likely.”
Of course, having a trusted financial partner in place also frees up Sagebrush leaders to do what they do best: ministry.
“ Going through the financing process with a bank that doesn’ t necessarily understand a church can be very arduous, especially when you’ re expanding and growing and looking at permanent facilities,” Church says.“ If you’ re bogged down, it just makes everything more difficult.”
QUICK FACTS ABOUT SAGEBRUSH CHURCH
Year Established: 1999( Super Bowl weekend) Location of main campus: Albuquerque, NM Number of locations: 9 Number of staff( full-and part-time): 124 Combined weekly attendance: 13,000 2017 Budget: $ 14 million
It takes two
Looking to the future, Church says he is particularly excited to establish permanency for every Sagebrush location. That’ s the near-term goal. Long-term, he says, he’ s encouraged by the fact that the church has a good working partner as its vision expands even more broadly.
Livacari is equally optimistic, citing Sagebrush as a church with“ dynamic and very capable leadership,” particularly in the area of financial management.
“ We have a proven track record of providing the resources and expertise religious institutions need to broaden their ministries and deepen their impact,” he says.“ We care about Sagebrush’ s success and aspire to build a relationship that grows with the church over the long term.”
“ So, it’ s really a blessing to have Sagebrush as a customer.”
8 CHURCH EXECUTIVE | NOV / DEC 2017