We began paying on our $3.225 million of parish hall construction-related debt in July of 2017 after a successful capital campaign that raised over $1.2 million to fund construction costs. This first campaign was called Growing in Grace.
To retire the remaining debt, we launched a second, 5-year campaign in 2019 that we called Walk In Love.
Though we financed our construction with a 20-year note, our plan was to pay off all this debt early in June of 2023. A small portion of our debt is held by a foundation of the Diocese of Texas (called the Crump Foundation) at a 2% interest rate, while the bulk of the debt is held by First Texas Bank at a 4% interest rate.
We were well on our way with an accelerated debt payment plan into the beginning of 2020, having paid off almost half of the total debt.
But, with the changing landscape brought about by Covid-19, the finance team has only been paying the minimum amount to preserve our cash-on-hand due to the uncertainty of our environment and diminished giving to the Walk In Love campaign. We want to get back on track as we head into the final two years of the Walk In Love campaign.
You can see the current status of the remaining debt in the chart below.