STEPHEN PHELAN
LOVING God GOD, Loving LOVING People PEOPLE Loving
THE MOVEMENT STORY
“I am going to expose what Movement Mortgage is doing all over America. Movement Mortgage is going to become a business model for thousands of other companies who are just waiting for somebody to show the way.” - John Maxwell
A MOVEMENT OF CHANGE We recognize that we are one small voice in God’s great song of redemption. We want to harmonize with you and others to become a melody of change for the future. We welcome your voice alongside ours to make this song of hope more full and robust. Please contact us, and let’s join together to become a movement of change that fills the world with love for God and love for people.
CONTENTS
TABLE OF
SECTION 1
A MOVEMENT OF CHANGE BEGINS ..........................................3 Loving Teammates Loving Customers Loving Communities
SECTION 2
A MOVEMENT OF CHANGE IN BANKING ................................ 15 Our History Our Future
SECTION 3
A MOVEMENT OF CHANGE IN GIVING .................................... 19 Building Movement Communities Sustainability Scalability Focused Giving
SECTION 4
A MOVEMENT OF CHANGE IN CORPORATE CULTURES ...... 23
INTRODUCTION W
e’re excited to share the Movement Story with you because it’s about a great God who does great things through ordinary people.
Our story begins at Movement Mortgage back in 2007, when greed in the financial industry created a global recession. Banking institutions – the bedrock of the global economy – betrayed the trust society had in them. Rather than serving people, they preyed upon and marginalized the most vulnerable among us, fostering a culture of cynicism and distrust toward the financial services industry. Financial institutions failed to love their neighbors as they loved themselves. Things had to change. And we believed that followers of Jesus needed to lead this movement of change. The Church, in the business community, needed to be, look and act differently. We could no longer accept the self-serving approach expected of the industry, that accumulated wealth for shareholders and owners at the expense of employees. In the financial services industry, followers of Jesus needed to live out the redemptive purposes for which they were created by shifting the focus in lending from greed to love – love for God and love for people. In short, the Church needed to be this movement of change in the lending industry.
HOW TO START A MORTGAGE COMPANY
So it began with a small act – a seemingly simple Google search by cofounder Casey Crawford: “how to start a mortgage company.” This small act connected Casey to his partner, Movement co-founder Toby Harris. Toby was not only a veteran in the mortgage industry but a man committed to loving God and loving people in a new way. So, a small but mighty army of four began working towards a future they believed in. In twelve short years, Movement hit many milestones, including:
1.
The sixth-largest retail mortgage lender, funding approximately $30 billion in residential mortgages..
2.
A workplace of 4,000+ teammates.
3.
Investing over $260 million into the Movement Foundation that exists to bring light, life and hope to marginalized communities.
4.
A redemptive model of community transformation that consists of three Movement Schools, a Movement Center, 185 affordable housing units, a wellness center, and other projects.
5.
A partnership with John Maxwell to seek the transformation of multiple Latin American countries.
6.
Two or more vision trips a month with International Cooperative Ministries and other partners to help develop churches and hope centers throughout the world.
7.
A Christ-centered mentoring model for the workplace for nearly 700 team members and scores of other companies and churches.
8.
A Love Works program funded entirely by employees and has helped 1,750+ teammates in crisis with over $3.6 million.
9.
Social worker and Christ-centered counselors to serve our teammates in crisis.
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SECTION 1
A MOVEMENT OF CHANGE BEGINS A
s Movement grew, we searched for other redemptive, Christ-centered businesses that had modeled how to love God and love people. We
wanted to see how others had developed systems that could scale across our growing organization and, sadly, there weren’t many models. The common refrain was, “Well, there is Chick-Fil-A.” Praise God for Chick-Fil-A, but we wanted to see a movement of change sweeping across every sphere of influence in the business community, which meant thousands upon thousands of new models were needed. So we began to build a new model for the mortgage industry. We anchored our model in one guiding principle:
LOVING GOD & LOVING PEOPLE. SIMPLE. BUILD IT ALL AROUND LOVE.
5
LOVING GOD, LOVING PEOPLE
We defined love as acting in the long
Meet Frank.
term best interest of others, so we
Like many long-
needed to think about how we
time employees
applied that in terms of our
of Movement
teammates, our customers and the
Mortgage,
communities we serve.
Frank Thomas, a Loan Officer
LOVING TEAMMATES
from California, always contributed to Love Works. He found it an easy
At Movement, we exist to love and
concept to get behind – the idea that
value people. It’s our mission. So we
we should lock arms with one another
plastered the words love and value
and provide a safety net when one of
on every wall and t-shirt and logo we
our own is going through something
could find. But we didn’t want to just
hard instantly resonated.
talk about it and put it on t-shirts— we wanted to activate love. We’re
Frank is a gregarious and charming
convinced love is a verb, so we began
man with an easy warmth that people
taking action to love our teammates in
are drawn to. As you peel back the
the following ways:
layers, you learn of his rise as a young black man from Baltimore who
Love Works
found a path in the reggae world,
During a crisis, we need to be loved
out to sunny California and into the
and supported in real, tangible ways.
mortgage business. Frank experienced
At Movement, we create that support
much success in his career, and never
with Love Works. Love Works provides
anticipated how drastically things
financial assistance, like a church
could change, but a divorce and the
benevolence fund, only in a company.
onset of epilepsy turned his life upside down. Faced with crippling medical
Initially, our founders seeded Love
bills and a future he hadn’t envisioned,
Works, but Movement teammates
Frank was grappling with how to move
became so passionate about
forward. His market leader and good
Love Works that it is now entirely
friend RJ reminded him that he’d been
funded through voluntary payroll
contributing to Love Works for years
deductions (70% of Movement
and that he should reach out and see if
employees contribute).
they can help.
A MOVEMENT OF CHANGE BEGINS
The same week Frank reached out
6
million.
for help from the Love Works team. He went to discuss his rent with his
If you are interested in implementing a
landlord who told him, “You’re good.
Love Works program in your company,
Your rent is paid.” When Frank heard
we would love to help you. Thankfully,
those words, it hit him, “Love Works.
our friend Joel Manby helped us get
I felt valued, and I knew that people
started and provided the title (he
at Movement cared about me. I never
wrote the book, Love Works!), and we
thought I would need Love Works,
would be happy to help you in any way
and I certainly didn’t realize how big
we can to love your teammates.
.
of an impact it would make in my life.” Such is the way of love – love works, love does. What Movement did organically to love teammates like Frank when we were a small company now requires systems to love a larger company of over 4,500 teammates. As we have grown, we saw
INTERESTED IN IMPLEMENTING A LOVE WORKS PROGRAM?
the need to add a social worker and a Christian counselor on staff to help us
Contact us:
love our teammates. Why? Because
loveworks@movement.com
the aim of Love Works is to pour out love and grace, avoiding expressions of toxic charity. We know that helping can hurt at times, and we want to love in ways that help, not hurt. Before we ever extended love to marginalized communities, we prioritized love for our teammates. We will show up in times of crisis. It will happen. In our 12 years of existence, we have had the privilege of loving 1,750 people with $3.6
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LOVING GOD, LOVING PEOPLE
Mentoring
Meet Kelly
Love is acting in the long-term best
Rogers, a
interest of someone, and there is no
regional
interest longer than eternity. While
director from
we are committed to loving people in
Texas and
tangible and temporal ways (like Love
one of the
Works), we also want to love people
top sales leaders at Movement. She’s
in eternal ways. Movement Mentoring
also mother to 5 young adults, most
is a process for a small group of
of whom she raised solo amid really
men or women to receive God’s love
challenging circumstances. She’s a
(which is eternal) and build intentional
hard worker and leader who rarely cuts
friendships (which we all need).
herself ANY slack. In 2019, Kelly joined a Movement Mentoring Group with
The workplace is uniquely set up to
four other like-minded believers who
leverage the power of mentoring in
met each week via Zoom to deepen
small groups because many of the
their relationships with God and one
logistical and relational challenges
another.
that churches face are overcome in a work environment. Spending
Despite being flung to all corners of
forty-plus hours a week in a work
the country, these women built trust,
environment creates relational
community, and vulnerability with one
connectivity, shared experiences, and
another. In the midst of the mortgage
logistical connectedness that can be
boom of 2020, Kelly’s competitive
leveraged for eternal purposes to help
nature wouldn’t allow her to miss
people experience the love of God
any opportunity to capture as much
and build intentional friendships. The
business as she could. That resulted
reality is that all of us need intentional
in her working herself nearly to death.
friendships that are authentic and
Literally. In a company-wide Friday
vulnerable to sustain us in the work
morning meeting, Kelly shared how
we’re called to do.
bad things had gotten, “My body started shutting down. I wound up in the hospital, and if it weren’t for the ladies in my mentoring group, I wouldn’t have made it. They helped me
A MOVEMENT OF CHANGE BEGINS
put boundaries in my life and walked with me as we began to think through living priorities. These women even went so far as to fly in and surprise me for my birthday as a way of saying,
didn’t know Jesus. When Steve was invited to join a mentoring group, he quipped, “I know nothing about the Bible. I mean, I see
“We love you, and we are with you.”
two testaments here. Which one is
One hundred fifty different employees
joined a group of others for a weekly
heard those words and said, “I need that.” They saw themselves in Kelly, and they yearned for intentional friends that would help them stay grounded and focused on what was important.
Jesus in?” Always a team player, Steve time to learn and grow. He began to realize he actually had met Jesus many times over the nine years he’s been here – in the form of relationships with believers who’ve been pointing the way. In fact, Jesus had been pursuing him. As Steve puts it, “through the
Now, let me introduce you to Steve Barker, who can highlight another important aspect of the mentoring process: creating a safe space to explore life’s big questions (like faith). Few people embody the Golden Rule quite like Steve Barker. A loveable man with a quick wit and a startling memory, honed as an actor and standup comic, Steve makes a point to remember people’s names and stories and goes out of his way to serve others. He’s generous with his time and his money, and after decades in the mortgage business, he knows how to get things done. All that, but he
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mentoring process, I found Jesus. Or maybe I should say, “He found me.” This is what Movement Mentoring does for people – no matter where they find themselves in their spiritual journey, it creates a safe space and a clear pathway to experience the Love of God. The process we’ve created isn’t industry-specific, and it is free. We have over fifteen companies in a wide variety of industries using the Movement Mentoring process, as well as several churches. Over 700 of our teammates at Movement have experienced the power of friendships developed through Movement Mentoring, and we would love to help you launch Movement Mentoring in your office or church.
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LOVING GOD, LOVING PEOPLE
Vision Trips
accent, tattooed sleeves, and rapid-
One of the very best ways to love
fire speech suggest a personality very
people is to expand their vision of
different than the reality of who he is.
God and His redeeming work in the world, which is why Movement sends
Much of this paradox originates from
out teammates all over the world on
his accepting the invitation from
vision trips. Like many companies, we
Movement co-founder Toby Harris
have invested heavily in team building
to go to Guatemala, on what Mike
and leadership development for our
“thought” was a fishing trip. He was
teammates, but vision trips eclipse
blown away by what he experienced
our other efforts. These trips are the
on this vision trip to a country battling
highest impact investment you can
statistically high poverty rates, infant
make in your teammates. From a
mortality, and crime. As he visited
business perspective, these trips make
churches built by our mission partner,
great business sense because you
International Cooperating Ministries, he
get three years of relational, personal,
was overwhelmed by the joy and love
spiritual, and leadership development
he felt from a beautiful community of
in three days.
people who lacked so much of what we take for granted in the United States.
Probably the best way to see the business case for these trips is by
Mike’s fractured religious background
sharing a story of impact.
and non-traditional rise to corporate leadership didn’t leave much space
So many
for church or God, but encountering
teammates in
the love of Jesus in a remote village in
our company
the mountains of Guatemala opened a
have had
chasm in his heart that would soon be
powerful,
filled. He initially focused the yearning
life-altering
in his heart on “solving” problems.
experiences
He was determined to provide more
on vision trips, but none more so
churches, safe havens from crime
than Mike Brennan, the President of
and violence, and a place to gather in
Movement Mortgage. As President of
community with one another. So Mike
Movement Mortgage, Mike Brennan is
rallied his “not fishing” compatriots, and
an unexpected character. His Jersey
before they left the country, they had
A MOVEMENT OF CHANGE BEGINS
funded the build of the very next church.
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that is both a win for the receiving mission organization and a win
Since that time, Mike has led a
for our teammates. International
personal crusade to bring others to
Cooperative Ministries and the John
Guatemala and build more churches
Maxwell Leadership Foundation are
and Hope Centers to serve the people
our principal partners, among a host of
there. Mike has returned over a dozen
others. We are profoundly thankful for
times, and we have now funded over
our partners who are doing such great
31 churches (and hope centers) who
work. While you may choose to set this
have, in turn, birthed 1,188 daughter
up through your church or any number
churches. In 2019, Mike was baptized
of mission organizations, we would
at the same church where he met
also be happy to help your team go on
Jesus on the remote mountainside
a trip with us. We are in the process
three years earlier. Each teammate
of setting up an organization to help
who’s had the opportunity to take
shoulder some of the logistical burdens
a vision trip comes back with a new
for you, and as the world opens back
perspective on everything in their lives
up after COVID, we look forward to
and a renewed (or new) commitment
serving you.
to servant leadership. Just Compensation Because we believe so strongly in
Love led us to act in the long-term best
vision trips, we support our teammates
interest of our employees by paying
financially to make them happen. First,
them just wages based on industry
we subsidize the trip by paying the initial
standards. We desire to pay them at
$500 of the cost. Second, we provide
or above a living wage that honors the
an additional two days of Paid-Time-Off
work they do and, at the same time,
(PTO) for their first mission trip. Third, we
enables the business to be scalable
shoulder as much of the logistical burden
and sustainable. For example, the
as possible to help with pre- and post-
Movement School pays teachers one
trip details through staffing.
year above their seniority level.
Logistically, we have a number of
Thrive
mission partners who host teams
Loving our teammates means
in countries around the world. Our
equipping them to thrive holistically.
goal is to create a win-win situation
Physically, we emphasize and model
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LOVING GOD, LOVING PEOPLE
a healthy culture through fitness challenges, clean eating options in our operations centers, gyms, CrossFit boxes in our operations centers, medical screenings for team members, in-house dieticians, and more. Financially, we want our teammates to thrive, so we offer budget counseling through Financial Finesse. In 2016, we issued a “debt challenge,” whereby our teammates paid off $2.8 million in debt (mostly credit cards and student loans) and saved $1.4 million for emergencies. In 2017, love looked like a “401(k) challenge” that helped us go from 25% of our teammates saving for the future to 70%, which we match. Professionally and spiritually, we’ve hosted many events and one-time programs to invest in our people, but we are most excited about Movement Mentoring, which bears the most long-term fruit. The bottom line is that humans thrive in small groups that provide relational connectivity and accountability.
LOVING CUSTOMERS When Jesus called us to love God and love neighbors, we knew, as a mortgage company, how important it was to love our neighbors who were purchasing homes. Here are some quick stats:
• #1 indicator of financial security: homeownership. • The #1 cause of divorce: financial stress. • #1 debt that most families have: their mortgage. Add all this up, and it means we have a unique opportunity to love our neighbors at one of the most pivotal moments of their lives. As we enter into this sacred moment, our goal is to minimize their stress and debt and maximize their security, financial stability, and happiness—for love’s sake. To accomplish our goal, we need to be excellent at what we do and approach the loan process with the heart and mindset of a servant-leader. When it comes to loving our customers, these are the two pillars of our company: work with excellence and add value through servant leadership. Excellence Excellence means you exceed the norm. God does everything with excellence, and so should we. When it comes to excellence in the home buying process, co-founder and CEO Casey Crawford challenged us to think about our family members and how we
A MOVEMENT OF CHANGE BEGINS
would want them to be treated.
12
ready to make an offer on a house. Houses often sell quickly, and you can
He said, “I think about how I would
lose out on a great house because the
want my little sister treated if she was
seller doesn’t feel confident about the
buying a home. You always want your
financing behind the buyer’s offer.”
family to be treated with excellence,
So we created a seven-day approval
so why not use family as a model for
process, where our customers would
how we treat everyone. If my little sister
have the confidence of knowing
were my customer, I’d tell her to gather
exactly what amount they are
together all of her financial information
approved to borrow when they make
first to help her see what she could
an offer.
afford before she started shopping.” But there is a third leg of the stool for So that’s what we do at Movement, for
us when we think about excellence
everyone, for free. We call it Upfront
in the homebuying process. We all
Underwriting, and we strive to get it
want our family members to have a
done in 6 hours or less. Sure, we end
speedy closing process that doesn’t
up underwriting quite a few loans
drag out. So we committed to pulling
(50,000+ a year) for people who
off the closing process in one business
might not end up purchasing a home
day. We want our customers to
or becoming customers at Movement,
remember their closing day as a joyful
but hopefully those people feel loved
celebration, not a stressful, never-
in the process. On top of that, we can
ending saga. Thanks to a fantastic
rest at night knowing we treated our
team, excellence at Movement means
customers how we would like our
6-7-1: six hours to underwrite; seven
family members treated.
days to process; and clear-to-close in one business day.*
Casey’s challenge to treat customers the way we would treat our family
Movement team members are
members didn’t just shape our
accomplishing what few in the industry
underwriting process. It also shaped
are even attempting — and doing
our approval process. Casey said, “The
so at an astonishing rate. Movement
second thing I would want for my little
processed 85% of loans in seven days
sister is the peace of mind of having
or less in 2019, and we averaged 6.64
her financing in place when she’s
hours of upfront underwriting on
*While it is Movement Mortgage’s goal to provide underwriting results within six hours of receiving an application, process loans in seven days, and close in one day, extenuating circumstances may cause delays outside of this window.
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LOVING GOD, LOVING PEOPLE
all loans in 2018. For us, this is one
customers more.
measuring stick of excellence, and we’re constantly striving to meet the
John Maxwell has poured into us
6-7-1 standard of excellence with every
and taught us the power of humbly
customer so that they feel loved and
adding value to other’s lives, especially
valued in the process.
our teammates, customers, and local communities. His books were
Servant Leadership
instrumental to us in our earliest days,
We believe that excellence should
and recently he has been mentoring
always be married with a posture
and investing in our senior leaders.
of servant leadership. The typical
John Maxwell’s vision is to serve the
workplace culture is a top-down,
most marginalized countries in the
hierarchical pyramid with the leaders
world, and we’re excited to lock arms
at the top and the customers at the
with his organization to see nations
bottom. All the focus and energy
around the globe transformed through
is on moving up the pyramid to be
principles of servant leadership.
responsive to your leaders, not your customers. A culture built on loving
LOVING COMMUNITIES
God and loving people inverts the pyramid and places the customers at
Profit with a Purpose:
the top and the leaders at the bottom.
The Movement Foundation
The leaders are there to serve and add
We knew early on in our story that
value to those in the organization who
the purpose of our profit was to love
are closest to the customers at the top
the marginalized in the communities
of the pyramid.
we were serving, so we established the Movement Foundation. The
The net effect of this means leaders
Movement Foundation exists to bring
should have a responsibility to, not
light, life, and hope to underserved
authority over, their teammates.
communities. Over the last decade,
Leaders are responsible for the
we’ve distributed earnings to the
success of their team and their
foundation and donated 53% of the
customers, not their own personal
company’s equity to the foundation,
success. Our attitude, then, is one of
enabling us to put over 260 million
humility, whereby we seek to think of
dollars toward loving and valuing the
ourselves less and our teammates and
marginalized in our local communities.
A MOVEMENT OF CHANGE BEGINS
We have a general discipline of trying
homeownership possible for all
to disburse over 10% of the company’s
Americans.
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annual profits. We’re very grateful for Dan Glaze and the National Christian
One other area of redemptive
Foundation, who have helped us with
focus for us would be vulnerable
the gifting of our company into the
children. No one is more vulnerable
National Christian Foundation.
than a child. As we think about the redemptive purpose of profit in the
Redemptive Enterprise
communities we love and serve, we
God’s love is redemptive, so we
are directing the bulk of our giving
believe ours should be as well. He’s
toward loving vulnerable children with
always bringing dead things to life
things like the Movement School, the
and mending what’s broken and
Movement Center, affordable housing,
bringing light into darkness, and that’s
medical clinics, and more. We hope to
exactly what we want to be about
love the most vulnerable among us to
with business. Like every industry,
life, knowing that in the process, these
our industry touches so many broken
children will teach us and bless us.
people and broken places, offering us the opportunity for a redemptive enterprise that mirrors our redemptive God. For example, one current place of brokenness in our industry is the disparity between black and white homeownership, which is at its highest level since 1919. We recently launched a black homeownership initiative so that, as Martin Luther King Jr. said, we can “let justice roll down like waters in a mighty stream.” We haven’t even begun to make a dent, but we want to swim in the current of redemption with a host of other businesses that are making
.
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LOVING GOD, LOVING PEOPLE
16
SECTION 2
A MOVEMENT OF CHANGE IN BANKING W
hen God initially called us to begin a movement of change by starting a company committed to loving God and people, we thought it would start
with a bank, because banks sit at the center of local economies. Additionally, God warns us that money can creep its way into at the center of our hearts, so if we could create a redemptive enterprise that shapes the thing controlling our communities and our hearts, then the impact could be extraordinary. The uphill climb to build a redemptive enterprise in the banking industry was significant. In 2008, the Great Recession robbed America of the hope and trust in lending institutions. When you don’t trust the institution holding your money, it fundamentally erodes trust in local communities. Making the climb even steeper, barriers to entry in the post-recession banking industry were (and still are!) extraordinarily high. Yet, in 2018, God did what only God can do by opening doors that are far too heavy for us to open, enabling us to purchase 99% of First State Bank.
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LOVING GOD, LOVING PEOPLE
OUR HISTORY First State Bank is a 100-year-old institution begun by a Black pastor, Rev. Samuel Moses, in a church basement. Twenty-one Black doctors, teachers, farmers and preachers worked to provide the African-American community access to a banking institution in a time when others had shut them out. The bank became a symbol of economic independence and a beacon of Black economic resilience in the age of Jim Crow-enforced segregation.
loans to Black homeowners • Paying for the bonds of nearly two dozen civil rights demonstrators jailed in the Martin Luther King Jr. era The bank operated profitably and soundly for 100 years until it, like so many others in the 2008 Great Recession, encountered shaky financial footing and was unable to rebound.
OUR FUTURE Continuing Our Original Purpose In 2017, First State was headed toward
The name has changed over the years:
closure until God intervened. While
from the Savings Bank of Danville to
the bank is no longer black-owned,
First State Bank and now to Movement
the original purpose of loving and
Bank. But the bank’s mission remains
serving the marginalized carries on.
the same: to love and value people,
Today, Movement Bank is owned and
to serve those who have been
operated independently of Movement
marginalized and mistreated, and to
Mortgage, but the ethos is the same.
lead a Movement of Change in this
The Movement Bank team is honored
industry, corporate cultures and local
to carry its legacy into another century
communities. Movement Bank’s rich
of loving and serving marginalized
heritage includes:
people, not only in Danville but across the United States.
• Stimulating the Black economy of Danville • Financing dozens of Black churches • Offering some of the first Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
God’s Asset: 100% of Profits Reinvested Like other banks, Movement Bank is operated with the best for-profit practices in the financial services industry. Unlike other banks, 100% of
A MOVEMENT OF CHANGE IN BANKING
the distributed profits of Movement Bank are reinvested into redemptive projects in marginalized communities across America that bring light, life, and hope. Imagine the redemptive work that could be possible if the top banking institutions in America redirected the massive profits from owners and shareholders to God’s redemptive purposes among marginalized communities. That’s the dream with Movement Bank! Connector For Like-hearted Businesses The institution of the bank may be small now, but our hopes and dreams for it are big. We hope that Movement Bank will become a connector for
.
God-honoring businesses seeking to collaborate to see God’s redemptive purposes displayed in the world.
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LOVING GOD, LOVING PEOPLE
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SECTION 3
A MOVEMENT OF CHANGE IN GIVING W
e are guided by four areas of passion: building Movement communities, sustainability, scalability and focused giving.
BUILDING MOVEMENT COMMUNITIES
goal is to create amazing schools for the awesome people of neighborhoods that have been historically marginalized.
We believe God has placed us in the cities we are in by intention, not luck. As
As we seek to build great public, charter
such, we seek the city’s good and make
schools, the Movement Foundation
it prosper, especially among vulnerable
wants to provide Christ-centered
children who are the most marginalized.
wrap-around services before and after school to enable the Movement Schools’
For communities to thrive, we must join
families, teachers, and administrators
in partnership with the eight streams
to thrive in every area of life. Just as
of influence: business, government,
we want our teammates at Movement
education, the church, family, media,
Mortgage to thrive, we also want the
sports, and the arts.
same for our friends at the Movement School. This is why love leads us to offer
With that perspective, we’re building
mentoring, Love Works, Vision Trips and
Movement Communities to purchase real
virtually all of the things we do for our
estate in marginalized areas and bring
Movement Mortgage teammates.
world-class public charter schools. The
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LOVING GOD, LOVING PEOPLE
We also recognize that we are one small
therefore, in our minds, is imperative
voice in God’s great song of redemption,
to create ongoing generational
so we want to harmonize with other
transformation. After we make the initial
partners to see the talented people
investment to purchase the real estate,
in these neighborhoods become the
the project needs to be self-sustaining
voice of change for the future. In our
with rent from the tenants occupying
first project in West Charlotte, there
the space. For instance, after we made
was a need for excellent health care,
the initial investment to buy the real
so we developed a partnership with
estate and perform the upfit for a school,
Novant Health Care to provide the
the Movement School operated at a
Movement Wellness Clinic. Moreover,
2% return in year one and is currently
we saw the need in West Charlotte to
running at a 4-6% return, not to
bring together local faith-based groups
mention the tax benefits and underlying
who are serving the marginalized under
appreciation of the property itself.
one roof in the Movement Center to create synergy and a greater level of collaboration. Additionally, Charlotte is facing an affordable housing crisis with a deficit of over 33,000 units. As a result, we have worked collaboratively with a host of state, federal, and faith-based partners to establish 185 affordable housing units adjacent to the
SCALABILITY As of this writing, we are in the process of scaling this redemptive model throughout Charlotte and beyond. Our second Movement School opened in East Charlotte in the Fall of 2020. Based on both the
Movement School.
assets and the needs of our partners
SUSTAINABILITY
determine the which components of
While many great ministries and private
we are committed to models that are
Christian schools are doing excellent
sustainable and scalable, meaning
work in marginalized communities,
that each project not only pays for
sustainability is often a challenge
itself (with rent) but also provides an
because of a need for ongoing funding.
attractive return for investors.
and the Movement community, we’ll the model will be required. Regardless,
At some point, donor fatigue settles in, and the great work done by the school
In the traditional philanthropic model,
or ministry is in danger. Sustainability,
donors give money to charity and
A MOVEMENT OF CHANGE IN GIVING
22
the charities then disburse the funds,
communities. We believe all of the
necessitating a perpetual need for
resources God has entrusted to us
ongoing donations. In our model, a
are His, and we are simply investing
donor invests in an appreciable asset
them on his behalf. We do not give to
(real estate), and the donor maintains
corporate sponsorships so that we can
ownership and control of the asset in
give with a focused intention and love
perpetuity. This creates flexibility for the
in three areas of passion:
future of the asset, allowing Movement to sell the asset and redeploy the capital towards other redemptive purposes, if needed.
1. Vision Trips 2. Matched Giving for our Teammates 3. Movement Schools and Wrap-
We receive a two-fold benefit in this
Around Services
philanthropic model. 1.
We have the privilege of investing in redemptive, kingdom work yielding fruit for generations to come in marginalized communities.
2. We receive a return (ROI) on our investment. Both philanthropic models—the investment model and the charitable giving model—are great. Both are needed. We are simply trying to provide a different model that is both sustainable and scalable and, therefore, offers different solutions to different problems.
Vision trips are a point of passion and have been discussed. When it comes to matching our teammates’ giving, we believe our team members are our best ambassadors of generosity. If they believe in the work done by organizations, then we like to amplify their generosity. While our approach to giving largely focuses on marginalized communities in the United States, we have a small percentage of our giving going to marginalized areas globally. For example, God led us to purchase a redemptive enterprise in Uganda (a farm called Elhanan) to create jobs with just compensation in a Christ-
.
FOCUSED GIVING
centered community. Additionally, we
We have a very focused approach to
to bring light, life, and hope to globally
giving that helps us love teammates,
marginalized communities.
customers, and marginalized
are working with John Maxwell and ICM
23
LOVING GOD, LOVING PEOPLE
24
SECTION 4
A MOVEMENT OF CHANGE IN CORPORATE CULTURES T
his was never just about Movement Mortgage. It was about God birthing a movement of change in other corporate cultures and local communities worldwide. For that to happen, we need a more vibrant, cohesive network. Such a network will collaboratively and synergistically share how God is leading each of us in the business community to love Him and love people. It won’t be easy to create a network that yields a movement of change. The first challenge will be overcoming the fragmentation and siloing of business leaders in the Church. Unwittingly, many local churches are currently hindering a movement of the gospel by asking business leaders to greet or volunteer in children’s churches or help park cars. While all of these are good and necessary ways to serve a local church on Sunday morning, many business leaders intuitively sense that more can be done with their gifts in the business world to advance the Church — with a capital “C”. That’s the movement of change our world needs. It’s a movement that creates a slingshot effect of collaboration and celebration, whereby the Church awakens business leaders to the glorious work of God at work. Thankfully, God has gifted and entrusted some of the brightest, entrepreneurial minds to the business community. It is time for us to join together, united in Spirit and unyielding in resolve, so that the world feels the redemptive impact of God’s love in all of its
.
glorious fullness!
The Movement Story is one we’re excited to share because it’s about a great God who does great things through ordinary people. Our model is anchored in one guiding principle:
LOVING GOD AND LOVING PEOPLE Business, for us, is all about love. We define love as acting in the long-term best interest of others. So, for this book, we’ll share with you principles that have helped us act in the long-term best interest of our teammates, our customers and marginalized communities. In doing so, we hope to leverage who we are for the sake of helping you love God and love people, right where you are.
Stephen Phelan is the Chief Pastoral Officer at Movement Mortgage – a unique position within a unique company. He enjoys working alongside his good friend, Casey Crawford, and applying his over a decade of experience in urban ministry throughout the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, and all over the world. For feedback and reviews, email stephen.phelan@movement.com