In a historic agreement last week between the Wesleyan Investment Foundation and the Church of the Nazarene, the Wesleyan Investment Foundationpurchased the USA Church of the Nazarene Loan Fund. The historic sale and purchase was unanimously approved by the USA National Board and General Board of the Church of the Nazarene and the Board of Directors of the Wesleyan Investment Foundation. 

Wesleyan News met with the CEO of the Wesleyan Investment Foundation, Craig A. Dunn, to discuss the loan fund purchase and its impact on The Wesleyan Church constituency. 

What change will the average pastor or investor notice as a result of this action?

The average pastor or investor will notice no change. We have been providing a full range of services to Wesleyan churches for 60-plus years and this will not change. We will now offer those same services to Nazarene churches-for instance, any kind of loan to the local church or its entities. On the investor side, we will continue to offer savings accounts and IRAs. 

Will this in any way affect loans available for Wesleyan churches?

No. As of our last audit, WIF has US$496 million dollars in assets. Cash continues to come in from churches and individuals with whom we're already doing business. In addition, WIF will be able to offer Church of the Nazarene constituents the opportunity to also make deposits with us. 

Did the assumption of the Church of the Nazarene loan fund and the cash payment to the Church of the Nazarene weaken WIF's financial stability?

No, we had plenty of cash available to do this transaction, which amounted to less than 10 percent of our total assets. In essence, we traded some cash reserves for their loans. We will now generate a positive cash flow from those loans, which makes us stronger. 

The Church of the Nazarene limited the dollar amount of loans they approved. Will you have to limit loan amounts at first?

No, this is one of the things that make this very positive for the Church of the Nazarene. We are capable of handling multi-million dollar loans. The Church of the Nazarene had focused their loan fund on helping new and younger churches, and had done a really good job. 

We believe this project offers an absolutely fantastic opportunity to serve the greater Kingdom interests by developing partnerships with other denominations, especially as we all work with limited resources and try to be more effective for the future. This is a huge win for both The Church of the Nazarene and The Wesleyan Church denominations. The comments from those who have responded to this action could be summed up in two words: "It's awesome!"
--Wesleyan News