“Alive and Active”—Decades of Helping Churches Grow
In 1963, when she was just thirty-one years old, Letty Briggs stumbled across an article that described a problem for churches.
As she stated back in 2018, “banks wouldn’t loan out money to build churches. Some people got together and mortgaged their homes so they could do it themselves. For the first few years, they gave that money away, but they eventually turned it into an investment fund.”
When she read about the group’s solution, she became inspired. She put $500 in an envelope and dropped it in the mail.
And with that, Letty became CDF Capital’s very first investor.
That initial investment grew and Letty continued to view CDF as an ideal place for her savings. Years later, when she sold her house and moved to a new place, she invested the extra money in helping churches grow.
“I’ve been in church all my life, so naturally I wanted to support churches and help start new ones,” Letty explained.
A LIFELONG LOVE FOR THE CHURCH
The church has been part of Letty’s life since she was a child,
She grew up in the small town of Morrill, Nebraska, on the edge of the Wyoming border. When she was a little girl, she started attending Sunday school.
As a teenager, she was baptized in the swimming pool at camp. Her love for the church remained strong when she relocated to California. Letty taught Sunday school for many years, even when her job required her to work on Sundays. She would get up in the morning to teach class at church and then would head to work.
Today at 92 years old, Letty no longer volunteers in her church’s Sunday school, but she remains actively involved in helping churches grow through her investments at CDF.
“I’ve been in church all my life, so naturally I wanted to support churches and help start new ones.” —Letty Briggs
STILL ALIVE AND ACTIVE
Every year, a member of the CDF team calls Letty on the anniversary of that first investment to thank her for her faithfulness.
CDF Capital President and CEO, Eric Schroder, has made a few of these calls. He observes that, “Letty defines loyalty. For over sixty years, she’s invested in this ministry, which is absolutely amazing. We’re blessed to have people just like Letty that continue to be faithful to this most important work.”
During this year’s call with Nedra Macshane, long-time CDF Capital investment representative, her daughter Shari revealed that her mother’s health is declining. While some of her memories have faded, Letty still recognized Nedra. She innocently asked Nedra a powerful question: “so that fund is still alive and active?”
“Yes we are,” Nedra lovingly responded. “We’re helping churches all across the country."
