CotN and Wesleyan Investment Foundation sign loan fund agreement

[Ryan Scott]

I know the Wesleyan Church has a pretty strong presence in Canada.

[Kevin Rector]

Wow, that is a shockingly sparse number of Wesleyan churches. Are they at least larger churches, or do they simply have almost no foothold in Arkansas?

No, none of them are large churches, there is virtually no Wesleyan Church presence in Arkansas. As reported in the 2010 District Journal the average AM attendance at the 8 Arkansas Wesleyan churches was as follows:

Bella Vista Wesleyan Church - 26
Conway Iglesia Cristiana Wesleyana Roca De Salvacion - 65
Harrison Highland Wesleyan Church - 17
Rogers Wesleyan Church - 28
Russelville Iglesia Wesleyana Monte de Sion - 28
Russelville Iglesia Cristiana Wesleyana Alpha y Omega - 55
Searcy Ministerio Cristiano Dios Habla Hoy - 56
Clarksville Iglesia Cristiana Jesucristo Es Mi Refugio - 50

[Kevin Rector]

This morning Holiness Today tweeted to promote an article at a Wesleyan publication. I can't help but wonder if we are going to be seeing more and more things like this as we begin being more cooperative together.

The tweet:

The Wesleyan Church looks at women in leadership. http://tinyurl.com/6ayd3mn

[Houston Thomas]

I was recently at a District Assembly where Dr Toler spoke of this news. He said that at a meeting of the Board of General Superintendents Dr. McCool shared with the board that the Church of the Nazarene loan fund could be an asset that they could sell to generate cash. She thought the portfolio was worth ~$30 million dollars but that a bank would probably purchase for it 40 cents on the dollar. Dr. Toler recommended that the board call the Wesleyan Investment Foundation to see if they would have interest in purchasing it. They did purchase it for more than what they were expecting to receive from a bank.

I think this is probably more about financial pressure causing the church to examine all options and a leader in the right place at the right time than it is about an intentional step towards a merger.

And, as someone who was skeptical about Dr. Toler serving on the Board of General Superintendents, I'm thankful that he has a connection and relationship with other denominational leaders.

[Billy Cox]

I think this is probably more about financial pressure causing the church to examine all options and a leader in the right place at the right time than it is about an intentional step towards a merger.

Yes. If the purchaser had been J.P. Morgan Chase, nobody would be speculating about a merger.

[Susan Unger]

Apart from Indiana and North Carolina, I think this would be the case for most folks, and Indiana might be a toss-up.

Northern PA has hardly any Naz churches but a significant number of Wesleyan. If there were a merger, we could fill in their gaps and they could fill in ours.