Orthodox Helping Orthodox

by Father Innocent, St. John’s Monastery

On the Sunday of Orthodoxy, the Church remembers the terrible years of iconoclasm and celebrates the unity of mind that was achieved in the Eighth Ecumenical Council as peace was restored and icons were proclaimed worthy of veneration. The controversy over icons was the last great doctrinal dispute that the Church had to grapple and overcome. This mighty reconciliation is proof that there is great power when Orthodox come together. Time and again, even in our day, the truth is demonstrated: we can do great things together. The Monastery of Saint John was greatly helped this week by fellow Orthodox believers who came to our aid when we faced seemingly insurmountable financial difficulties. The following is an account of what happened. First, some history:

The Monastery of St. John was founded in 1996 in Point Reyes Station, CA. The Brotherhood eventually outgrew the original facilities, and it was soon apparent that a larger one would be needed. After a long search, a suitable property was found 200 miles northeast in the little town of Manton, CA. The property had 42 forested acres, a large main building, a guest house and a bunkhouse. Fully-furnished, the facility was ready for occupancy. The problem was the price tag. One and a quarter million dollars was a sum far beyond our meager means to pay. By God’s mercy and with the help of many friends and benefactors, some of the funds were raised. In June of 2006, we made the requisite half million dollar down-payment and moved the monastery to its new home. The seller agreed to “hold the note” and let us make payments to them for the remaining $750,000 we owed. We were to make monthly interest-only payments of 7.1% per annum on the principal for the first five years, and after an extension a payment of 8% for another five years, with the understanding that the entire sum would be due as a “balloon payment” at the end of 10 years. Happy to find a new home and confident of an eventual solution to the balloon payment issue, we cheerfully agreed to the arrangement.

Working directly with the seller for financing really made the whole deal possible. Without seller financing, the only other alternative was to get a loan from a bank or lending institution. Such an option for a religious institution like ours was an impossibility. There are two main reasons for this. First, banks look for borrowers who have a solid income. Churches often rely heavily on donations to run their organizations. This is “soft money,” and banks look askance at such tenuous financial resources. Second, in the event that a bank is forced to foreclose on a church or a monastery it reflects negatively in the public eye. Such negative publicity hampers their image. If, for these reasons, banks and credit unions (understandably) opt to decline loan applications from churches, how much more so for monasteries—which remain terra incognita for Protestant America? Perhaps many readers who are involved in parish projects requiring financing can identify with the above-described conundrum. One such individual did, and took the further step to actually do something about it.

John Della Monica had served on the Missions Board for the Diocese of the West for twenty-five years. He assisted many parishes to reach their development goals, like building new temples and launching other building projects. One thorny problem which parishes and missions repeatedly came up against was the difficulty to acquire financing. At some point John may have said to himself, “There must be another way.” Indeed, there was. He and his colleges struck upon the idea of establishing a non-profit organization which could provide a fund whereby canonical Orthodox institutions could borrow money and procure financing without the hassle of going through conventional loaning institutions. It stands to reason. The Baptists have done this, other religious denominations have done this, why can’t we band together and pool our resources so we can fund the very mission we believe in: the expansion of the Orthodox Church in our land? Once established and wisely invested, such a fund could continue to grow over the years and provide a reliable source of financing for generations to come. After much work and struggle, such a fund became a reality. In the Fall of 2015, the Orthodox Church Capital Imporvement Fund was launched. By the mercy of God, the Monastery of St John was one of the first to benefit from this great idea: Orthodox people helping Orthodox people to further the Kingdom of God.

On Friday, March 18^th, on the Feast of St. Nikolai of Okhrid (a missionary saint of our own country) the papers were finally signed. The balloon payment, which was due in June of this year, was finally transferred to the seller. The looming threat of foreclosure now lifted off our shoulders. We were three months away from disaster. Now a ray of hope shone on the horizon. True, the brotherhood still has $750,000 to pay, yet now on far more reasonable terms and to an institution that has our interests in mind and is committed to what we believe in: the advance of the Orthodox mission in this country. Twenty years from now when, God willing, we meet our financial obligation to OCCIF and finish paying back our loan, we will still count ourselves debtors. Yet this time, it will be a debt of love.