RURAL CHURCH STRENGTHENING ORGANIZATIONS CONSTRUCTION/RENOVATION TERMS OF AGREEMENT

1. The Duke Endowment requires that you complete a Preliminary Planning Guide. The Preliminary Planning Guide is provided by The Duke Endowment and can be found online at www.dukeendowment.org. When it is completed, a copy should be placed in the church records and a copy sent to The Duke Endowment office.

2. The construction/renovation project must be approved by your Charge/Church Conference, the District Committee on Church Location and Building, and your district superintendent.

3. The Discipline of The United Methodist Church must be followed in every respect relative to a construction/renovation project (Paragraphs 2520, 2521 and 2543). Pursuant to Paragraph 2543.12, we require the pastor and the Building Committee chairman to certify at completion that all bills and obligations relative to the building have been paid. Thus, the only outstanding debt will be with the mortgage holder.

4. The congregation must employ the services of an architect licensed in the State of North Carolina who will provide preliminary documents, working drawings and specifications, and will supervise the project throughout construction. The Duke Endowment only requires that preliminary documents be sent to our office. The church may not employ the architect for drawings and then dismiss the architect for supervision.

5. The Duke Endowment encourages the congregation to consider an environmentally friendly structure (please see the Endowment website or Rural Church publication for a “Guidelines for Environmentally Friendly Structures”).

6. If a second grant is warranted, the church can expect to make application for that one year after the initial grant, provided the construction/renovation has been completed, the architect certifies that it was built according to approved plans and specifications, and the congregation certifies that all architectural fees, construction and equipment bills have been paid.

7. The building must meet all State Codes, such as fire and accessibility.

8. The Duke Endowment does not fund design-build plans or prefabricated metal buildings. We require architecturally designed buildings. (Steel, of course, may be used as a construction material.)

9. The church must carry insurance equivalent to 80 percent of the replacement value of existing facilities until the new facility is free of debt. Builder's Risk Insurance must be carried during construction. 10. The preliminary plans, as presented and stamped by your architect, must be reviewed and approved by The Duke Endowment before the church becomes eligible to apply for grants.

11. The Duke Endowment will expect to be involved in the development of plans throughout the planning process. We will expect the architect to send us a copy of each revision of the preliminary plans.

12. The Duke Endowment can make grants only to churches that have financial need. As the church plans its construction/renovation project, it will need to demonstrate to The Duke Endowment that building costs exceed the church's financial resources. The first grant application must show a line of credit at least in the amount of the total expected from The Duke Endowment.

13. While The Duke Endowment will participate in landscaping and paving, only that which is designed, approved and certified by the architect can be included in the grant application. Normally, only a portion of the cost of paving can be included.

14. The Duke Endowment also will accept as part of the cost of the project the value of donated labor, materials and furnishings provided by the congregation. We also will consider part of the value of outside volunteer labor provided through the Conference Construction Coordinators. The Building Committee will need to keep separate records for the volunteer labor, materials and furnishings provided by the local congregation and for that provided by outside volunteers.

15. Any church receiving a grant from The Duke Endowment must be current in payment of apportioned funds.

Though we are not in a position to give an absolute guarantee, if funds are available and if conditions remain comparable to those of the past, when the church has started construction, it should be in a position to apply for an initial grant from The Duke Endowment. Grants are typically divided over a three-year time period. If a second grant is warranted, the church can expect to make application for that one year after the initial grant, provided the construction/renovation has been completed, the architect certifies that it was built according to approved plans and specifications, and the congregation certifies that all architectural fees and construction and equipment bills have been paid. Where a third grant is warranted, application for that can be made two years after the initial grant. There are two grant periods: January, with payment being received in late June; and August, with payment being received in late December.

The grants given by The Duke Endowment are given without restriction except that the money must go toward construction costs or the retirement of the indebtedness on the building.

I agree to the above requirements of The Duke Endowment.

______Pastor or Building Chair

______Date

If you have any questions, please contact us. The Duke Endowment 100 North Tryon Street, Suite 3500 Charlotte, NC 28202-4012 704-376-0291 704-376-9336 (fax) Updated October 17, 2007