Kevin Cobb grew up fishing, and he served in the Navy, so the illustration was just what came to mind first.
“We’re dragging an anchor, and we’ve got to cut the rope.”
West Mobile Baptist Church — a growing congregation — had carried a large debt for nearly its entire history. In 1990, they had gotten a loan to buy a piece of property and build a building, and as the years went on, they added on and purchased more property and rolled that into the existing debt.
And in 2020, Cobb felt a burden to lead the church to get rid of it.
“I told the pastor search team that eliminating our debt would be a focus of my pastorate, trusting the Lord to lead me in how that would happen,” said Cobb, who had served as the worship and college pastor at West Mobile Baptist since 2014.
More for missions and ministries
Loan payments were taking up close to $100,000 of the church’s budget each year, he said. “I knew if we were going to go where God has for us, we needed to stop dragging the anchor.”
The church agreed.
“We just felt like moving forward it would open up our budget to give more to missions and ministries,” Cobb said.
So in late 2021, West Mobile Baptist began its “Cut the Rope” campaign, refinancing about $833,000 on a 10-year fixed note. They paid it off in four years and five months, saving the church around $100,000 in interest.
They recently celebrated that accomplishment by having charter members participate in a rope-cutting ceremony with a large anchor representing their debt.
“We went all out and had a big celebration,” Cobb said. “We talked about our past, present and future, and then we had a big meal where the staff served the church. We wanted to show them ‘we want to pay you back for all the hard work you’ve done in getting this debt paid off.’”
He said they give God the glory for everything He’s doing at West Mobile Baptist. The church is growing, even “busting at the seams” in some areas.
“I am thankful that I get to serve these amazing people and our outstanding team, and I praise the Lord for allowing us to get this done,” Cobb said. “Most of all, I look forward to seeing what God will do in the days ahead as we love God, love others and make disciples.”
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