Alice Drive Baptist Church in Sumter pays off mortgage

After a charter member of Alice Drive Baptist Church passed away recently and left $100,000 in his will to be applied to building debt, the church realized it could potentially pay off its mortgage in one big push if it was God's will.

And that's exactly what happened at Alice Drive Baptist in recent weeks as Mandy Easton, the church's creative pastor, told the story Monday.

This summer when Lead Pastor Clay Smith realized the church could pay off its mortgage so soon and be debt free to contribute more to local and worldwide missions, he began to pray if it was what God wanted the church to do, Easton said.

By the end of July, the loan balance was $105,000. The total loan from 2000 was $3.3 million, according to Easton.

After confirmation, Smith began praying and encouraging the church with the vision.

Smith and church leadership set Sunday as "Finish Strong" offering day.

About a week ago, Smith sent a letter to church members and attendees outlining the "Finish Strong" goals and including a special offering envelope.

Leadership scheduled a bonfire and note-burning celebration for Sunday night at the Loring Mill Road church in anticipation of burning the mortgage, even though no one knew for sure whether it would meet the goal, according to Easton.

Easton said more than $30,000 was collected last week before Sunday's services.

Two offerings were taken up during all three services Sunday - one for regular giving and one for the Finish Strong campaign, she said.

At the outset of the bonfire, only the five church members who counted the collection in the morning knew the final total.

Smith was handed an envelope with total collections of $153,500 on Sunday and $190,000 overall, Easton said.

"Pastor Clay broke down when he read the totals," she said. "It was very emotional, and, he said, 'Church, we're debt free.'"

Paying off the loan early frees up more than $100,000 from the church's budget, and Easton said the church plans to have more impact in the community with the extra funds.

"We are going to be supporting local and foreign missions much stronger because of this," Easton said. "We will be giving back. It's not going to be, 'Yeah, we got more money, so let's go build a new building.' It's 'We're giving back.'"

Four remaining charter members of the church and building committee members from 20 years ago participated in the note burning.