Anderson church's finances reworked

ANDERSON A central Indiana church has emerged from bankruptcy after filing last year when it wasnt able to make a $5.8 million balloon payment on a construction loan.

The repayment of Madison Park Church of Gods loan has since been renegotiated, and the roughly 3,000-family congregation church in Anderson is now on a new payment schedule to repay the debt in full, said Rob Spaulding, the churchs business administrator.

We refinanced it with the bond holders, he said. The court proceedings were necessary to bind everyone to the agreement.

The church filed in July for Chapter 11 reorganization over a nearly $17.5 million loan from 2007 to pay for construction of its community life center near the Interstate 69 interchange with Indiana 9 on the citys south side, the Herald Bulletin reported Monday.

David Whitmoyer, vice chairman of the churchs board of elders, said there was no debt reduction from the court proceedings but that negotiations with creditors were unsuccessful until the bankruptcy was filed.

We had known for a couple of years we would not be able to make those payments, he said.

Church officials said it still plans to sell about 100 acres surrounding its property. Spaulding said a senior housing group will be developing about 16 acres soon and eventually the church would like to see new retail outlets in the area.

The church is moving forward thanks to the support of its congregation and new interest rates, he said.

We certainly held our own and have been very stable through all of this, he said. But this really gives us a very stable platform for us to move forward.

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Anderson church's finances reworked