As we head into the end of the year, we have some exciting news at OCCIF. We have been blessed with many positive changes this year, including new churches to support, new investments in OCCIF and our new board members. I am now delighted to announce the hiring of our first Executive Director for OCCIF, Father Athanasius Kone.
It is hard to believe that it has been 15 years since we started OCCIF. Back then we were an informal collection of clergy and Orthodox Christian professionals that were frustrated with how difficult it was to get capital improvement loans. We felt there had to be a better way to get Orthodox churches the funds that they desperately needed.
As we all move forward into Pascha, I want to take a minute to look back on what OCCIF did in 2023. During 2023 we provided loans for new living quarters at the Holy Assumption Monastery in Calistoga, California; helped St Jacob Orthodox Church purchase and convert a building into a new church in Bend, Oregon; and helped St. Mary Magdalene Orthodox Church in Fenton, Michigan put a new roof on the church.
As the year 2023 draws to a close and 2024 dawns, I want to thank all of you for supporting OCCIF. This past year I’ve had the honor and pleasure of meeting many of you in different diocesan conferences and meetings. It’s great to see so many old friends, and introduce OCCIF to new audiences.
“We’ve been wanting to build a church for quite some time,” said Father Stephen Soot, Rector of St. Anne Orthodox Church in Corvallis, Oregon. “We need to expand because we can’t have everyone together in one space.” Father Stephen created a temporary chapel downstairs during the pandemic, where he’d live-stream services to those who couldn’t …
Nestled in the heart of Calistoga is the Holy Assumption Monastery, a long standing Orthodox monastery that has been an active part of the community since 1947. OCCIF provided a loan so that Holy Assumption could have a new residence house to provide a home for the nuns now and into the future “When [the …
Holy Assumption Monastery, Calistoga, California Read More »
Many of the churches that we help have been congregations without a regular space in which to worship. In the case of Bend, Oregon, the nearest Orthodox parish was two hours away.“In the summer of 2003 there were a few parishioners in Corvallis that were going to move to Bend,” notes Father Ignatius Strange, Priest-in-Charge …
This loan is for an Orthodox mission, parish, monastic community or institution for building projects for the construction of a parish temple, social hall, rectory, school or senior-related housing project. Once qualified through OCCIF’s Feasibility and Loan Application processes, we would lock in your interest rate. OCCIF will then establish a 12 to 18 month, …
This loan program is designed to include the purchase of new, undeveloped parcels of land or a property with existing improvements, capable of being used as a place of worship. This program requires the submission of a qualified appraisal, earlier in the evaluation and qualifying stages than other programs. OCCIF can lend up to 70% …
Similar to our New Construction Loan program, the initial process required for funding remains the same but the loan amount range is significantly less to renovate versus build. The interim financing, as interest only payments, is also similar to our new Construction Loans but are limited to a maximum of 12 months in duration. After …
