Our New Church

For the last ten years, our church has worshipped in a hockey arena.  The church started as part of a vision and understanding of our ministers - they could see that the town was growing at a huge rate and there were no new churches coming.  They went to our denomination and asked that a church be planted.  It was basically dropped in their laps and our church was born.  

We joined the journey late.  The church started in 1997 and we wandered in, lost and looking for a church family, in 2006.  We had no idea how much our lives would change.  We joined small groups, went on outings, made important "church family" connections and really strengthened our faith.  We had been looking for a place that we could be a part of things and where the faith was truly lived and not just on Sunday.  At Kespres, we found that.

The only frustration were the limitations placed on a church without a building.  Groups could only be small (at people's homes) and to do special events was very complicated.  While the arena worked well for a while, it did get a bit frustrating listening to the hockey crowds screaming during worship (our minister joked that he should have taught the organist to play the hockey themes).  When we joined the church in 2006, land had been donated for building but nothing had been started.  A committee had started work but had eventually fallen apart.

Finally, a year ago April, we broke ground.  Dh went up a lot during the summer to help with building and has spent almost every Saturday this winter working at the site doing all kinds of odd jobs.  We have helped with fundraising dinners and "talents and treasures" campaigns.

We finally got to see the final results today.  We started our worship at the "Ice Palace".  We set up our folding chairs for the last time and did some reminiscing about our time there.  Finally, we packed up and moved on.

We all arrived at the new building and waited to enter together.  Our ministers' daughter opened the door and we all entered with a true sense of wonder.  It was hard to believe that this day had finally arrived.

These photos don't do the church justice.  I adore it.  It is light, airy and totally simple - very much a Presbyterian church.  The space is flexible and elegant, perfect as a multipurpose place in the community with a focus on welcoming people into God's house.  Our motto is "People discovering what it means to follow Jesus in our time."  They tried to design the church building with our faith and beliefs in mind.

This morning, worship was for our members.  It was very moving and the sense of excitement was palpable.  This afternoon, we did the official "dedication" for the "mukety mucks".  As my parents said, in their 50+ years in the denomination, they have been to church closings but never an opening.  This is such an exciting time for us.  The place was packed and filled with optimism.

Please, pray for us.  We have such hopes that we will be able to do God's work in our town and to create a true place of welcome for all who seek.  For Dh and I personally, our church family is an essential part of who we are and even more importantly, where we want to work at "being a family".  We hope to be able to contribute to continuing to build this wonderful place!