Triggered by pressure on church operating budgets and a concern for passing on debt to the next generation, many churches are struggling with the idea of debt retirement.

Debt retirement is almost always about the opportunity cost of making principal and interest payments for 15 - 30 years. By eliminating the debt, your church will be able to spend the equivalent dollars to do marvelous things to build up the work of the church.

CCS faced this challenge with a church near Washington, DC. We came up with a plan to articulate and demonstrate the ministry opportunities and mission support that the church could commit to fulfill once the debt was no longer a factor in the annual budget.

What does this translate to? The church was carrying a mortgage of $500,000 and paying $5,000 per month to serve that mortgage. Our campaign became named, "Can you imagine?" It featured all the wonderful things that could be made possible if we just retired the debt with a successful capital campaign.