Thursday, July 15, 2010

General Theological Seminary leaders say money secured for upcoming school year


From ELO-

General Theological Seminary has reached an agreement in principle with its bank for a $5.3 million short-term loan "that will provide working capital for the upcoming school year," according to a July 14 press release.

The Rev. Lang Lowrey, GTS interim president, said in a press release that "definitive agreements and final approval" by both the seminary and Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company are still needed on the terms of the loan. General would get a line of credit on which it can draw for operating expenses until the seminary proceeds as planned with the sale of four residential units in the building known as Chelsea 2, 3, 4, the release said.

The loan is to be repaid from the proceeds of the sales which, according to the release, could take up to a year. Lowrey said in a letter to trustees that any remaining proceeds from the sales would go toward further reducing the school's other debts.

Lowrey said in the letter that "the imminent financial crisis that GTS faced has been temporarily eased" and "we have bought some breathing room."

"Now we need to develop a plan for further financial restructuring, including reducing the seminary's significant debt," he added.

In a July 1 letter to GTS students, Lowrey called the need to raise capital for the upcoming school year "our single most important challenge."

He added that the school needed to restructure its debt. "General simply cannot afford to service its present level of indebtedness," he said.

Lowrey acknowledged in his letter to students what he called "the heightened level of anxiety felt in our community about our finances and about our future."

More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79425_123454_ENG_HTM.htm

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