Our Story
The Southern District Church Extension Fund, Inc. (the "Fund") was incorporated on June 1, 2004, as a Louisiana not-for-profit corporation. While we trace our roots back to 1887 organized as a ministry program of the then "Southern Mission Expansion" to become Southern District LCMS, it was not until 2004 that we incorporated separately. The Fund is affiliated with the Lutheran Church Extension Fund ("LCEF"). LCEF is a national Christ-centered servant partner of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod ("Synod"), which provides investments, loans, and services to Synod churches, schools, agencies, and their rostered church workers.
The Fund is administered by a six-member Board of Trustees ("Board"), none of which can hold membership on the District's Board of Directors or elected committees. They are responsible for the supervision and administration of the Fund and report to the member congregations at the District Triennial Convention. All assets and liabilities, including the responsibility and liability for the Term Notes and Debentures offered hereby, are those of the Fund Investors in the Fund who will be repaid from the Fund's unrestricted assets.
The Fund was created to assist churches in the Southern District of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod ("District") in financing the acquisition of land and in the purchase, erection, and improvement of facilities for effective programs of ministry, witness, outreach, and service for the expansion of God's Kingdom in the Southern District. The District is one of the 33 geographic districts of Synod in the United States. It encompasses the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and the northwest portion of the state of Florida. The mission of the Fund is to make funds and services available to congregations for building efforts in support of The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19).
The District is a Louisiana not-for-profit corporation incorporated in 1925. The District is administered by its Board of Directors, who, along with the District's officers, are elected by representatives of its member congregations at the District's triennial conventions. The Synod Constitution is also the Constitution of each District of Synod; however, each District is at liberty to adopt such bylaws and pass such resolutions as it deems expedient for its conditions, provided that such bylaws and resolutions do not conflict with the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod. The membership of the District consists of 160 congregations which are the members of the Synod located within the District's geographic bounds. The District's 160 congregations have a combined membership of approximately 23,000 communicant members. The District's executive offices are at 100 Mission Dr., Suite 100, Slidell, LA 70460; the telephone number is 504-282-2632, and the fax number is 985-871-9696.
The Notes and Debentures of the Fund should not be confused with those offered by the national church organization, the Lutheran Church Extension Fund—Missouri Synod, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Potential investors should consult the Prospectus of the Fund and the offerings of other extension funds independently. No other organization underwrites or is financially involved in the security offerings of the Fund.
