The Solomon Foundation’s Impact

By Jerry Harris  

It was the spring of 2007 when I received an invitation to a luncheon hosted by Provision Ministry Group at the North American Christian Convention in Kansas City, Missouri. The luncheon was for leaders of churches averaging more than 1,000 in regular attendance, and it was the first time I had been invited to such an event. The people I met at that gathering, and the relationships that grew out of it, marked a turning point in my life and ministry. It was there I met Doug Crozier, then president of Church Development Fund. I asked him for help with a financing problem with The Crossing’s first multisite campus. 

GREATER VISION FOR MINISTRY 

We had planned to spend $1 million to purchase and refurbish a grocery store in Macomb, Illinois, into a Crossing location, but we were falling short by about $500,000. Our local bank wanted a guarantee for the additional funds; I found this off-putting, as we had been an exemplary customer for years. Doug came out to Quincy, Illinois, toured the project, and said he didn’t want the $500,000 loan. Instead, he wanted all of our indebtedness! He planted a vision in me for not just one multisite location, but an additional five locations! 

Just three years later, Doug gave me the opportunity to be part of the start of a brand-new church extension fund, The Solomon Foundation. I joined the first board of directors when TSF incorporated in December 2010, and the Crossing was the first loan on their books. Doug gave me opportunities to tell our church’s story to investors and other church leaders across the country, and it wasn’t long before I found myself in the company of some really incredible leaders in a network of growth and innovation. 

Doug’s vision for the Crossing having five locations turned out to be surprisingly shortsighted as we now have 11, but none of that boldness to take those aggressive growth steps would have occurred without TSF and Doug. During my eight years on the board, two of those years as chairman, I watched and participated as our story reproduced itself again and again in literally hundreds of churches, using the investments of believers to build the kingdom while they received a great return.  

But I saw so much more than that! I saw a ministry that measured its bottom line in outreach, church attendance, and baptisms! As churches managed and overcame their obstacles through TSF’s help, those churches increased their ministry impact exponentially, just as we had. To date, TSF has been instrumental in the growth of almost 600 churches, helping to increase their attendance by more than 180,000, and contributing to more than 65,000 baptisms! And God has blessed TSF’s bottom line with over $1.13 billion in total assets, making TSF the fastest-growing extension fund in history and fourth largest in the country! If the total assets of all three Restoration Movement extension funds were added together, it would by far be the largest such fund in the country! That is not only kingdom growth, it’s movement growth! 

EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES AND IMPACT 

In 2015, TSF had the opportunity to write their first loan to an African American Church of Christ. It wasn’t long before Doug and the board wanted to build the loan portfolio of the AACC brothers and sisters to $80 million. Today, TSF has partnered with over 90 African American Churches of Christ and provided loans of more than $130 million. Additionally, TSF is committed to allocate 20 percent of its total assets available to African American Churches of Christ. This opened up the Restoration Movement to TSF on a much wider scale, as relationships formed and fellowship has been forged with Churches of Christ and International Churches of Christ, restoring relationships that had been severed long ago. TSF shares Restoration Movement ideals with fringe churches that have no tribe as they seek to fund their projects, connecting them to a network of like-minded leaders so they can learn and grow with a Restoration Movement perspective. 

PRESERVING OUR HERITAGE 

In 2017, TSF, primarily through the work of Renee Little, saved Christian Standard from being consigned to history by its former owner, the Wicks Group. After TSF purchased it, the operation was changed from a for-profit business to a not-for-profit ministry, seeking to leverage the power of our unity in obedience to Jesus’ prayer in John 17. As a result, we’ve been able to tell so many stories that help define who we are as a movement and the role we play in the wider kingdom.  

With TSF’s help, Christian Standard Media has not only continued the printed magazine, but also has made it available online for free to any who wish to read it. CSM/the magazine reports up-to-date news of our movement, has our movement’s most comprehensive digital database, has expanded our digital archive back to 1966, and provides an abundance of resources for networking, Bible study, and tools for growth. We are also custodians of much of our movement’s history and many of its artifacts, saved from destruction in the Christian Standard Library.  

Doug and TSF innovated and used gift leasebacks to help 33 churches to date, as well as three of our colleges. This tool helps these ministries to get fresh wind in their sails as they look to their futures. When COVID hit in 2020, TSF helped churches navigate PPP loans to keep them going, started weekly Zoom calls to provide encouragement for church leaders, and retained counseling help for pastors and staff that continues to this day. TSF placed over $40 million in PPP loans for more than 80 churches through their lending relationships. TSF then raised another $4 million to allow another 40 churches to receive a TSF grant after they could not get PPP monies. Many of these were small, rural AACC churches. TSF has also played a key role in sponsoring such Restoration Movement conferences as Spire, Renew, and ICOM. 

All of this and so much more has been accomplished in just 13 years! There’s no telling what the future will hold, but there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that God has had his hand of blessing on the work of The Solomon Foundation. Generations of believers will benefit from TSF’s visionary thinking and hard work, whether they know it or not. I can truly say that the Crossing and I have both been blessed by having TSF as our ministry partner and would have never realized the kingdom impact we’ve experienced without her. I extend my heartfelt thanks to Doug, Renee, the board, and the staff of TSF!