Your MIF investments are at work every day as loans to more than 750 ELCA ministries throughout the United States, in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, supporting the church's mission of spreading the gospel.

Calvary Lutheran Church in Two Rivers, Wis., surveyed its neighbors and learned that their church was virtually invisible. For a church setting its sights on revitalization, this was not good.

After years of declining attendance, Calvary invested in some soul-searching and developed a mission to be open and welcoming to everyone in their community. According to Calvary's pastor, the Rev. Kay Richter, their building was the biggest roadblock to success. Not only was it invisible, Pastor Richter said the cramped narthex wasn't welcoming, and previous efforts to expand it weren't successful. "Before and after worship, people just walked in and walked out," she said. The fellowship hall in the basement wasn't accessible to those not able to use the stairs.

So, with input from an architect and MIF Building Consultant Patricia Dever, Calvary updated its building. They removed trees and updated the facade. Pastor Richter said: "You can't miss it now. You can see there's a church on the corner."

Calvary replaced the narthex with a larger gathering space. Parking was redesigned to move people logically from their cars into the new space. They added office space and some extra rooms. They replaced carpet and painted.

A former banker in the congregation was concerned that Calvary get the best financing deal. They looked at local banks, Thrivent and MIF. Pastor Richter said, "The Mission Investment Fund was by far the best deal." That is, a great interest rate, no closing costs and the interest on the loan is reinvested with other Christ-centered building projects — a deal accessible to bankers, pastors and everyone else. MIF provided $570,000 of the $650,000 project. An existing capital improvement fund and gifts from members made up the balance.

Pastor Richter said that outreach efforts and building improvements have paid off. "We had to add another Sunday morning service because we couldn't fit everyone into the sanctuary," she said.