The Church Loan Fund

What The Church Loan Fund does

The Church Loan Fund, Inc. is a Tennessee-incorporated nonprofit organization headquartered in Cleveland, TN, that serves as the designated manager, administrator, and originator of first mortgage church loans for congregations within the Church of God denomination. Founded in 2010 to assume the church loan portfolio previously held by the Ministers' Retirement Plan, the fund provides financing for property acquisition, construction, refinancing, and other real property-related needs of qualified Church of God churches.

The core product is the Church Loan Fund Lending Program, structured as 10-year balloon notes with payments and interest based on 20-year amortization, at Board-set interest rates ranging from 5.00% to 8.75%. Supporting resources include the Church Loan Fund Manual, the Church Construction & Financing Manual, a standardized Loan Application Forms Package (available in English and Spanish), and a monthly Payment Coupons system. There is no proprietary technology platform; loan origination and servicing rely on manual forms, phone, email, and PDF-based documentation. Loan processing takes 30–45 days after a completed application is submitted, with a $250 non-refundable application fee and no additional closing costs.

Revenue is generated primarily through interest income on the loan portfolio, supplemented by one-time application fees. The organization operates under guidelines set by the Church of God General Assembly Minutes (primarily S52), its internal procedures manual, and the Internal Revenue Code, with pension assets of the Ministers' Retirement Plan permitted to be invested in the fund. Distribution is direct-to-borrower via phone (toll-free 877-478-7190), email, and the churchloanfund.com website, with no intermediaries, external marketing channels, or geographic expansion beyond the Southeast USA. The customer base is structurally limited to member churches of the Church of God denomination, making the fund a denominationally-bounded specialist lender rather than a broadly competitive financial institution.

Name

The Church Loan Fund

Legal name

The Church Loan Fund, Inc.

Website

https://www.churchloanfund.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Church Loan Fund, Inc. is a Cleveland, TN-based nonprofit lender that originates first mortgage loans exclusively to Church of God congregations for property acquisition, construction, and refinancing, operating under denominational guidelines since 2010.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious Organization Lending

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Mortgage Bankers & Loan Correspondents (6162)

akta.pro primary industry

Construction & Development (C&D) Lending — Commercial/Multifamily (FSALADAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

Keywords

• Church mortgage lending
• Religious property financing
• Nonprofit church loans
• Congregation real estate lending
• First mortgage loans

Headquarters

HQ city

Cleveland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Interest Income: The primary revenue stream is interest income from church loans. Interest rates range from 5.00% to 8.75% as set by the Board. Loans are structured as 10-year balloon notes with payments based on 20-year amortization.
2. Loan Application Fee: A $250 non-refundable application fee is charged with submission of loan applications. This is a one-time fee at the origination stage.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Church Loan Fund, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that originates and administers first mortgage church loans to qualified congregations within the Church of God denomination. It provides financing for property acquisition, construction, refinancing, and other real-property-related lending needs, with loans structured as 10-year balloon notes on 20-year amortization and interest rates ranging from 5.00% to 8.75%.

Product overview

The Church Loan Fund, Inc. is a church lending organization that serves as a manager, administrator, and originator of first mortgage church loans for qualified congregations within the Church of God denomination. The core offering is the Church Loan Fund Lending Program, which provides financing for acquisition, construction, refinancing, and real property-related lending. Supporting resources include the Church Loan Fund Manual and Church Construction & Financing Manual, along with a comprehensive Loan Application Forms Package (available in English and Spanish) and Payment Coupons for managing monthly loan payments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Church Loan Fund Lending Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Loan processing takes 30-45 days after completed application submission
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Church of GodcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Church Loan Fund was incorporated in 2010 to serve churches within the Church of God denomination. The organization operates under guidelines from the Church of God General Assembly Minutes (primarily S52). The Church of God is an international religious denomination headquartered in Cleveland, Tennessee.

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Church Building & Loan Fund: A direct peer: a denominational nonprofit loan fund that provides first-mortgage and property loans to congregations within the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), operating under a near-identical model of religiously affiliated real-property lending for one denomination.
• Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF): Direct peer: a denomination-affiliated nonprofit that originates mortgages, construction loans, and refinancing for Lutheran congregations and ministries, with a similar captive-denomination model and investment products tied to the broader Lutheran funding base.
• Cornerstone Fund (UCC): Direct peer: United Church of Christ-affiliated nonprofit that provides first-mortgage and bridge loans to UCC churches and affiliated nonprofits, closely paralleling CLF's denomination-locked lending model.
• Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program, Inc. Direct peer: a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)-affiliated nonprofit providing mortgage and property loans to congregations, mirroring CLF's structure of denominational exclusivity and church real-property focus.
• Church Loan Fund of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC): Direct peer by name and structure: a Church of God in Christ-affiliated loan program serving a different Pentecostal denomination (COGIC vs. Cleveland TN Church of God) with the same church-mortgage lending focus.

Others

• MMA (Ministry Management Association): Adjacent ecosystem player: serves Church of God ministries with insurance, retirement, and financial services, and shares Cleveland, TN origins with CLF — a likely referral and partnership counterpart within the same denominational ecosystem.

Emerging players

• AGFinancial Life (Assemblies of God): Comparable emerging/adjacent player: provides insurance, retirement, and lending-adjacent financial services to AG ministers and churches, demonstrating the same denomination-aligned financial-services playbook used by CLF for the Church of God.

Broad incumbents

• SBA 504 / 7(a) Lenders (e.g., Live Oak Bank): Broad incumbent: large commercial/SBA lenders such as Live Oak Bank that compete for nonprofit and small-business real-estate financing; they offer broader, less denominationally tailored products that churches sometimes use as a fallback option.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/church-loan-fund-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Church Loan Fund