The Bottom Line

I used to be the young guy. There were a couple of white-haired gentlemen and me, going out into churches, telling the CDF story, working with ministers, elders, finance committees, and investors. We ate lunch together most days and talked about life and how CDF could help churches grow.

Image Above: Brad Dupray (far left) & Nedra Macshane (middle, bottom-left)

Believe me, I learned from the ground up. I had an MBA in my pocket, but virtually all of my work experience to that date had been in local church ministries. I had little understanding of how church finance worked. I had a lot to learn.

Ralph Dornette and Harold Purdom were my coaches. Ralph would take me in the passenger seat of his Cadillac Sedan de Ville to board meetings, construction projects, investor desserts, and every other manner of CDF connection. Harold was more of a life coach. He taught me what it was to act with dignity and to respect every person we interacted with, from the widow with her mite to the rich man with a gold ring on his finger.

Some Things Change

A couple of team meetings ago, one of our VPs referred to me as “the old guy.” Hold on a minute, buddy! was my first thought. But then I realized that while both Ralph and Harold have graduated to Heaven, I have slowly transitioned from the young guy to the old guy. (Just a side note here, I’m only 57, so I’m not that old!)

While that transition has taken place, a lot has changed at CDF Capital. We’ve grown immensely. We’ve expanded geographically. We’ve flourished financially.

As I was reminiscing about my days with Ralph and Harold, I perused our team photo from 1991, taken just a couple of years after I started working at CDF. There were eight of us in the picture. Then I took a look at a team photo from our most recent all-company meeting. There were 51 of us in the shot. Only two of us are in both pictures—Nedra Macshane, one of our investor relations specialists, and me. I haven’t been blessed with Ralph and Harold’s full heads of white hair; what hair I have left is mostly grey, and there’s no longer a mustache in the second shot. And we’re all dressed quite a bit more casually in 2017 than we were in 1991.

It was nostalgic to look at those two photos side by side and see the differences. One thing hasn’t changed, however. I can look into the eyes of everyone in both images and know that their hearts beat for the same mission: helping churches grow.

Some Things Never Change

Today I still work with ministers, elders, finance committees, and investors. I find myself at board meetings, construction projects, investor desserts, and every other manner of CDF connection. I have that MBA in my pocket, but it’s a little tattered, and I’ve learned more than any MBA program could offer. I have coaches all around me—men and women who help sharpen up my game. And I like to think I can help someone else out every now and then.

When it all comes down to it though, while the bottom line for CDF may have grown financially, the real bottom line hasn’t changed a bit. We take the Great Commission to heart. We regard the Great Commandment seriously. We use the Bible as our guide. We believe in the church. We believe in Jesus. We believe He wants His church to grow. And that’s the bottom line.

Imaage above: CDF Capital Team