Worship Facilities Conference & Expo (WFX) Expands with Two Virtual Conferences

Online Events will Deliver National Audience to Educational Sessions and Exhibitors as Excitement Builds for Atlanta Event

WFX, in partnership with Church Production Magazine and Worship Facilities Magazine, announces two virtual conferences will be held in 2010 to support church leadership with facility design, management, technology, and improvement projects. The virtual conferences will be held May 5 and July 27, 2010, and each will consist of dynamic keynote presenters, in-depth conference sessions, online discussions, networking, and the opportunity to interact with suppliers and service providers from across the country.

“Culture, media, and technology are moving at a fast pace, and the demand from church leadership teams for education and idea exchange has never been greater. WFX’s mission to connect churches with the tools and technologies to create meaningful spaces and powerful worship experiences continues to resonate. We plan to use technology to educate and inspire as many churches as we can,” says Brian Blackmore, publisher and editor-in-chief of Church Production and Worship Facilities magazines. "WFX virtual conferences will allow us to reach more churches with the information they need and the two events will serve as a prelude and build-up to our annual national conference and exhibition which will occur in Atlanta, November 3-5, 2010.”

Companies interested in participating in WFX Virtual Conferences should contact Patrick Shaughnessy at (508) 663-1500, ext. 267, or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). The virtual conference format makes exhibitor participation limited with exhibits accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information, see http://www.wfxweb.com.

Church Architect Garrison Barrett Group to Create Two Separate Firms

The Garrison Barrett Group of Birmingham, Ala., announces that President Aubrey Garrison and Vice President Lauren Barrett will create two separate firms from the current, 22-year-old company. The change follows a series of strategic planning steps giving Barrett and his son, Brian Barrett, the opportunity to pursue projects of a different scale than that of the current firm.

Lauren Barrett and Brian Barrett will form a new architectural practice, Barrett Architecture Studio. The vision of the new firm will be to pursue smaller, local projects utilizing a hands-on approach to services. The firm will concentrate on residential, commercial, smaller churches and planning projects.

The Garrison Barrett Group will focus on larger projects, both regionally and locally, including churches, public assembly spaces, educational, mixed-use and major commercial projects.

A recent notable church project for The Garrison Barrett Group was creating the worship and educational facility for Birmingham’s Church of the Highlands, the fastest growing church in the United States last year.

For more information on The Garrison Barrett Group, visit www.garrisonbarrett-church.com.

Audio-Visual Design Company Employees Snag LEED Accreditations

Acentech Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., a multi-disciplinary acoustics, audio-visual systems design, and vibration consulting firm, announces that six of the firm’s professional staff—Jeffrey Fullerton, Linda Gedemer, Brian Huff, Benjamin Markham, Thomas McGraw, and Larry McIntyre—have achieved recognition as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professionals by the U.S. Green Building Council in Washington, D.C.

The accreditations are part of Acentech’s commitment to helping clients with sustainable construction and renovation projects. For more information, visit www.acentech.com.

2009 Highlight: Missionary Artifact Completes Space Shuttle Journey

In this 1955 photo, missionary Nate Saint shows gifts he received from Waodani Indians. Saint was martyred the following year. A piece of his Piper PA-14 airplane traveled to space this past August aboard the space shuttle Discovery. Image courtesy of MAF.

Astronaut Patrick Forrester took a piece of missionary history aboard space shuttle Discovery when it lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 25, 2009. The aim of the two-week orbital mission was to equip the International Space Station.

The item Forrester took aboard, an airplane battery box, was from martyred missionary pilot Nate Saint’s Piper PA-14, on display at the headquarters of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) in Nampa, Idaho, an organization comprised of missionary teams striving to overcome barriers in remote areas. Saint and four other missionaries were martyred on a sandbar in Ecuador on Jan. 8, 1956, by a tribe of Waodani Indians.

The incident sparked international news coverage and renewed interest in missionary service. Several of the tribesmen that killed Saint and the others were later converted to Christianity by relatives of the slain missionaries.

“Bringing attention to and renewing interest in missions would be a great result of this experience,” says Forrester, who was born in El Paso, Texas, the year after the martyrdoms.

After a two-week journey of more than 5.7 million miles around the earth, Forrester, the historical battery box, and fellow space shuttle Discovery crew members landed safely on Sept. 11, 2009, at Edwards Air Force Base in Lancaster, Calif.

For more information, visit www.maf.org.

Keep Your Interest Rate in Sight, in Mind

By Dan Mikes

Dan Mikes, executive vice president and national manager, Bank of the West’s Church & Educational Institution Banking Divisions, Walnut Creek, CA

Churches tend to prefer fixed rate loans, as they want to be able to budget for their future debt payments with a good level of certainty. Variable rate loans are often considered too risky for most churches. As a result, once the church has negotiated and closed its fixed rate loan, the paperwork is often filed away and no more thought is given to the mortgage until it approaches the maturity date.

A good steward of the church’s resources should keep themselves up to date on the general interest rate environment, and watch interest rate cycles with a view to refinancing the church’s debt to a lower rate. Interest rates are currently at or near historic lows; they can readily be tracked via the Federal Reserve’s website at www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h15/update/. A close look at rates over the past few months might cause some to conclude that the bottom in the current interest rate cycle may have passed several weeks ago. However, none of us has a crystal ball and we cannot predict rates, or perfectly time financing to the bottom of an interest rate cycle. The best advice is to look at the big picture and take action. Clearly, now is a very good time to refinance and, contrary to popular misperceptions, a number of qualified experienced church lenders do have funds to lend. Churches may have the opportunity to save thousands of dollars by refinancing their debt and/or better protect themselves in the future from rising rates.

For churches that currently have an all-in fixed rate that is higher than current market rates, there is no question that they should consider refinancing their debt. For a $5 million loan, a 1% reduction in interest rate will translate to over $200,000 in interest savings over five years.

Refinancing may still make a great deal of sense even when prepayment penalties apply or when the church is in a swap that carries a “breakage cost.” The specific calculations may become somewhat complex, but there are two things to bear in mind:

1. The savings from refinancing may still be substantial enough to overcome any prepayment penalties or breakage costs.
2. If the church believes that interest rates are likely to be much higher in the future (such as when the church’s loan matures in a year or two), then they may be wise to lock in a long-term interest rate now, even if a penalty is incurred in refinancing.

Some lenders offer 10-year fixed rates. Now is the time to take advantage of this.

The federal government is pumping record levels of dollars into the economy which will lead to inflation in the future. This will push interest rates higher. Further, the total level of U.S. debt is expanding exponentially. This could affect the country’s credit rating. If global investors perceive that they have more risk in carrying U.S. government notes, they will demand a higher return on their investment.

The prospect of higher rates in the future is more a case of “when,” not “if.” Churches should review their loan documents and call an experienced church lender to discuss their financing options. If you wait until your current loan matures, you may be facing much higher rates than are available now.

As executive vice president and national manager of Bank of the West's Church & Educational Institution Banking Divisions, Dan Mikes is an active participant in conventions and workshops sponsored by organizations such as the Christian Management Association (CMA), Guinn Smith & Co. Inc (CPA), and the National Association of Church Business Administration (NACBA). Mikes' entire professional career has involved nationwide church lending; including 19 years working exclusively with churches requiring financing programs in excess of $1 million. The author of a number of articles appearing in ChristianityToday, Church Solutions, Your Church, Church Worship & Technology and Church Executive, Mikes graduated Bible school before earning his business degree at a Christian university. Mikes, his wife and three children reside in Concord, Calif.

www.bankofthewest.com\churchlending