“We've been very fortunate. Our loss ratio is extraordinarily low. We've seen our asset quality remain excellent. While there are some churches and ministries that are perhaps watching their budget more closely, we've really seen no deterioration in the ability of the ministries we serve to handle their debt.”

The Storehouse Fund is one example of how ECCU assists churches. This program is designed to maximize capital campaign funds. Money to perhaps build a new church is deposited in the current checking account. Those donations can be moved into a Storehouse Fund Gateway Account with a target balance for paying ongoing project expenses.

Once that goal is reached, the surplus automatically transfers into a higher-yielding growth account with rates typical of ECCU certificate accounts.

With only a headquarters in Brea and a regional office in Colorado Springs, Colo., ECCU relies on a network of representatives, or ministry development offices, across the nation. Those representatives make personal contact with ministries throughout their region.

The credit union's steady growth has posed at least one challenge–finding quality employees. Holbrook says the credit union is always looking for qualified people.

As for volunteers, including the board, “We do recruit board members,” he notes. “We look for people who have experience in large, complex organizations, who have previous board experience, and who are passionate about our mission.”

Looking ahead, “We believe spiritual hunger transcends economic conditions. We've seen that through business cycles for 43 years. I've been with the credit union for 32 years, and I've seen the growth of ministries continue almost uninterrupted through every economic cycle. When times are good, churches grow. When times are bad, people go to church.”

The more than three decades with the credit union Holbrook mentions started just a year after he graduated from Biola University in La Mirada, Calif. When he joined ECCU it boasted $2 million in assets and four employees.

That means Holbrook was assistant loan officer during the day and handled collections at night. He was also the credit union's first computer operator.

“I appreciate little credit unions,” he says. “I understand exactly what it takes to survive in a small credit union environment. We've been very fortunate. We've only had one merger in our history, back in 1984 when we were $10 million in assets and merged with a credit union serving Christian schools and became a $20 million credit union. That gave us a little extra boost.

“In the early 1990s we decided to focus solely on ministries and abandoned the consumer market. That was the biggest single, scary decision we made. It has worked wonderfully well.”

Holbrook himself is no carpetbagger. He's been married 37 years, attended the same church 39 years, taught the adult bible class 25 years, and works in an office only seven miles from where he attended kindergarten. He and his wife have five children and are expecting their eleventh grandchild any day.

So it's no surprise when he declares, “Our family is the focal point and joy of our lives.”

His hobbies include collecting classic cars. At this point he has three –a 1956 Ford Thunderbird, a 1952 Ford truck, and a 1948 Dodge.

Old car buffs will tell you there are two approaches to those oldies-but-goodies. One technique is to meticulously restore them, avoid driving them, and fret over every bug spec on the windshield.

Other folks prefer “trailer queens.” This second group likes cars that are “drivers.” After all, they argue, it's a car. It's intended to provide transportation.

Holbrook clearly belongs to the second group. For example, he regularly steers the Ford truck to the local Home Depot. A few months ago he and his wife took the Dodge on a 2,000-mile trip to Oregon.

“We stayed at bed and breakfasts and had a great time. People honked at us all the time — usually not because of the way I'm driving,” Holbrook quips.

They also drive the Dodge to church every Sunday. Holbrook recalls one young boy at the church asking his parents, “How come the Holbrooks can't afford a new car?”

The garage where Holbrook stores and works on the cars is a blend of his personal and professional interests. When he built the garage he included a guest house on top. That guest facility has been made available to Christian workers and missionaries from around the world, and the Holbrooks have hosted visitors from Australia, Thailand, Argentina and elsewhere.

All in all, Holbrook considers himself blessed in that his job seems a perfect fit.

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