Columbia District Church Extension Society

Welcome to the Columbia District
Church Extension Society webpage!

The best way to contact the CDCES during the COVID-19 pandemic 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!

Jump to CDCES meeting schedule and minutes

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.

Every church in the Columbia District belongs to the Extension Society. As a member church in this partnership, one of your roles is to have your church representatives attend the CDCES Annual Meeting. The pastor and one other lay person are your church’s members of the Society. Other interested folks are also invited and encouraged to attend. Your presence is important to us! If you will not be able to attend, please make sure someone else in your congregation is there. There is no cost to attend, and lunch is provided. The 2020 meeting will be on Tuesday, February 11, at Oak Grove United Methodist Church. Click here to register for the gathering (we need your registration form to make sure we have enough lunch for you!)

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

Note that each application form is available in two different formats: a PDF that can be downloaded, printed, completed by hand, and then mailed in (or scanned and emailed), or a "fillable form" PDF that can be completed and saved on your computer, then signed and returned by mail or scanned and attached to an email.

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. Applications should be submitted to Donna Ward, the chair of the grants/loans committee, with copies to Laura Jaquith Bartlett, CDCES administrative assistant. Please email Laura if mailing address information is needed.

Loan Application (fillable form; type out application then sign and submit)

Loan Application (print form and fill out by hand)

Vital Ministry Grant Application (fillable form; type out application then sign and submit)

Vital Ministry Grant Application (print form and fill out by hand)

General Grant Application (fillable form; type out application then sign and submit)

General Grant Application (print form and fill out by hand)

NOTE: The 2020 application deadline for Balcomb grants was April 1, 2020.

Rose Balcomb Memorial Music Endowment Fund 2020 Application (fillable form; type out application then sign and submit)

Rose Balcomb Memorial Music Endowment Fund 2020 Application (print form and fill out by hand)

CDCES Brochure

Columbia District Church Extension Society (CDCES) Brochure

CDCES Contacts/Board Officers

President: Ric Shewell

Vice-President: Heather Riggs

District Superintendent: Tim Overton-Harris

Bookkeeper: David White

Treasurer: Scott Overton

Chair, Grants/Loans Committee: Donna Ward

Chair, Investment Committee: Norm Dyer

Secretary & Administrative Assistant: Laura Jaquith Bartlett

You can find a list of the complete Board of Directors, along with their committee assignments, here.

2020 CDCES Meeting Schedule and Minutes

To view or download the minutes of a meeting, click on the highlighted date below.

Unless otherwise indicated, all meetings take place on the third Tuesday of the month at 12:00 noon in the Albright Room of the Oregon-Idaho Conference Office (1505 SW 18th Ave, Portland, Oregon). For further information about an upcoming meeting, please contact Laura Jaquith Bartlett (CDCES administrative assistant)

January 14

February 11 Annual Meeting at Oak Grove United Methodist Church

March 10

March 17 Special Called Meeting via videoconference

April 21 via videoconference

May 19 via videoconference

June 30 via videoconference

July no meeting

August 18 via videoconference

September 15 via videoconference

October 20 via videoconference

November 17 via videoconference