Columbia District Church Extension Society

The best way to contact the CDCES is to send an email to our Administrative Assistant. Mail can continue to be sent via the USPS to 1505 SW 18th Ave, Portland, OR 97201, but is only picked up once a week, so we recommend you contact us by email first to determine the best way to communicate about your issue. We do want to stay in touch with you!

CDCES contact information

CDCES brochure

Grant/loan applications

CDCES meeting schedule and minutes

CDCES policies and bylaws

What is the Columbia District Church Extension Society? The CDCES is composed of the churches of the Columbia District working together to help those congregations that have special needs that they alone cannot (financially) meet. In other words, “churches helping churches.” These needs may be to the physical facility (church or parsonage), may involve strengthening current ministries, or may involve developing new ministries.

Columbia District congregations are eligible to apply for grants or loans to work on physical plant or start new ministries.

The goal of the CDCES is to partner with churches in the Columbia District to develop a shared vision so that “dreams may become reality.” As partners in ministry we each have our role to fulfill. In this partnership, the role of the CDCES and its Board of Directors is to:

Provide grants and loans for purposes including emergencies, capital improvements, repairs & development of healthy congregations.
Oversee and maximize investments to generate income for ministry.
Share consultation resources with churches to support healthy and vital ministries.

Policies and By-Laws

Loan Policy

Investment Agreement

Investment Policy

Church Loan Investment Agreement

CDCES By-Laws (amended 2020)

CDCES Articles of Incorporation (amended 2020)

Grant and Loan Applications

If you are applying for a grant: our application forms are online; please follow the instructions carefully. We recommend that you read through the form first, gather the documentation you'll need, and then complete the application. There is one form (link is below) to apply for any CDCES grant except for the Rose Balcomb music grant; that is a separate form (also linked below). After completing the application form, follow the instructions to submit it online.

If you are applying for a loan: you may choose to complete the form on your computer as a fillable PDF, or you can download and print a form to complete by hand. Both these forms are below. Loan applications should be emailed to ColumbiaDCES@umoi.org.

Please note that if an application is to be considered for possible funding at the next meeting of the CDCES Board of Directors, the submission deadline is two weeks prior to the meeting. The meeting schedule can be found below.

Grant or loan applications will not be considered at the Annual Meeting in February.

The application must be completed in its entirely, and must contain all required signatures in order to be considered for funding. Grant recipients will be required to submit reports indicating progress on meeting benchmarks. Please email our administrative assistant if additional information is needed.

Loan Application (fillable form; type out application then sign and submit; digital signatures are accepted)

Loan Application (print form and fill out by hand)

Grant Application (click here to complete online)

Rose Balcomb Memorial Music grant application

Equipping Churches for the new normal Grant (fill out the Grant Application to apply)