2023 Impact Report
Partnering in a Spirit-Led Movement for Thriving Congregations and Flourishing Communities
Dear Friends,
On behalf of the entire Wesleyan Impact Partners team, we’d like to thank you for partnering with us and share the impact we had in 2023 as we work together to embolden the church and its leaders to nurture thriving congregations and flourishing communities across the country.
First, let us share a few data points that mark a solid year for us. We ended the year with $76.8 million in investments and total assets of $115.2 million. Our loan portfolio is now at $97.4 million. We invested $469 thousand in faith leaders across the nation, and we were very honored to receive a $1.25 million grant from Lilly Endowment to support our Phygital Preaching Fellows initiative.
The numbers matter because of the impact they make possible, and that impact lives in the stories of the lives changed through our collective efforts. In this 2023 Impact Report, you will find stories of an investor inspired by her mother’s commitment to her beloved church, a church that is now stronger than ever because of the flexibility we provided them on their loan, and stories of courageous spiritual innovators uplifting their communities in creative ways. Each of these stories is but one example of the impact we make together in a cycle of generosity, bringing the experience of God’s love to more and more people.
Please know that these stories are your stories, as none of them are possible without you. When you or your congregation opens an investment account, takes out a loan, or can now establish an endowment with us, you’re supporting churches just like your local church and the work of strengthening the Wesleyan witness across the spiritual landscape today.
Thank you for partnering with us to do the loving work of Christ, investing in ministries and innovative leaders courageously doing God’s work in the world.
By the grace of God, may it be so!
Rev. Lisa Greenwood
President & CEO
Wesleyan Impact Partners
Dr. Maggie Jackson
Board Chair
Wesleyan Impact Partners
Empowering A Cycle of Generosity
We believe the church is called to the gap between the world today and the world of God’s imagination. We are grateful to be one among many partnering to strengthen the church by sustaining a continuous cycle of generosity.
The cycle is propelled by impact investing that provides positive returns and funds a lending program that grows thriving congregations and by charitable giving that supports ministries and leaders across the spiritual landscape who are innovating in ways that help their ministries and communities flourish.
Together, all of us are doing Christ’s loving work, leading our way into a world of love, generosity, and belonging for all God’s people.
Impact Certificates
INVESTING IN CONGREGATIONS
Impact Certificates* offer variable and fixed-rate investment opportunities to individuals, churches, and agencies that provide positive returns and fund loans to churches, helping them grow and flourish.
Investing Impact Story
Building a Community
Inspired by her mother’s generosity, Shirleen Johnston was one of the first in her church to invest with Wesleyan Impact Partners when she learned that we funded the loan that made possible the literal expansion of Christ’s table at her home church, Community UMC, in Irwin, Pennsylvania.
Shirleen invested in Impact Certificates because she shares Wesleyan Impact Partners’ mission to help churches be anchors of love and belonging for the communities they serve.
Note: This experience may not be representative of other investors. It is no guarantee of future performance or success.
Loans
FINANCING THE GROWING NEEDS OF CHURCHES
Wesleyan Impact Partners specializes in loans that meet the unique needs of churches and ministries with flexible terms, consideration of factors typically not taken into account by commercial lenders, and typically lower closing fees.
Lending impact story
Creating New Opportunities
Facing the daunting reality of only having six months of financial resources left, Linden-Linthicum UMC of Columbia, Maryland, came to Wesleyan Impact Partners to explore all possibilities for refinancing their building loan.
We were able to offer a lower interest rate with reduced payments. This flexibility allowed the church to finish its expansion project, which led to an increase in ministries and greater financial stability.
Learning and Innovation
INVESTING IN LEARNING AND INNOVATION
Wesleyan Impact Partners invests in innovative leaders courageously doing Christ's loving work, partnering in a Spirit-led movement to bring about human flourishing grounded in love, generosity, and belonging.
LEARNING AND INNOVATION impact story
Sharing Christ's Love Digitally
The Phygital Preaching Fellows, made possible by a grant from Lilly Endowment, emboldens fifteen innovative preachers to experiment with new digital technologies to lead the church into the new phygital (physical + digital) public square.
As the printing press of the 21st century, new digital delivery systems are making possible new ways to spread the gospel beyond the pulpit.
locke innovative leaders
2023 LOCKE INNOVATIVE LEADERS
The Locke Innovative Leader Award shines a bright light on innovation and entrepreneurship across the Wesleyan ecosystem, raising up the ministries and voices of courageous leaders creatively reaching more people with the Gospel and loving more people well.
Rev. Dr. Sidney Williams
in Morristown, New Jersey
Rev. Alisha Gordon
in New York City, New York
Rev. Tyler Sit
in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Rev. Michael Gienger
in Galveston, Texas
Lifting up Courageous Leaders
The Locke Innovative Leader Award honors courageous spiritual innovators across the Wesleyan ecosystem serving the unique needs of their communities.
2023 honorees are innovating in new ways to address homelessness in Galveston, help Black single mothers in New York City launch small businesses, plant new churches in Minneapolis that center marginalized voices, and accelerate the growth and development in underfinanced communities in Morristown, New Jersey.
Igniting Imagination Podcast
SPARKING CONVERSATION
Every movement for change starts with a generative conversation. The Igniting Imagination Podcast features rich conversations with leaders across the church landscape that invite listeners into new possibilities for themselves, their church, and their community.
Nurturing the Spiritual Core
Guests on the Igniting Imagination Podcast this year called us to innovate for love through holy friendships and do the challenging yet hopeful work of facing reality to claim the leadership role the church must play in this season, nurturing the Spirit in the public square toward a more loving world.