A Leap of faith

Ken Johnston

Members of the Rainy River Evangelical Covenant Church took a big leap of faith Saturday when they officially announced plans to build a new church.
Hosting a dinner at which they invited members of the congregation and guests from the community and region, the church’s chairman of the board, David Peters, made the official announcement. “It is with great joy and anticipation that...the membership of the Evangelical Covenant Church voted in favour of erecting the shell part of our future church.”
Plans for the 152’X80’ building, which will also have 16’ walls, will see the shell completed this summer at an approximate cost of about $170,000. Of that amount, Peters said, “We have raised about two thirds of it to date.” It will be burgundy and sandy beige in colour.
The new church will have a regular seating capacity of 250 but will be able to be expanded to 400 for special events. Peters said there will be plenty of room for Sunday school classes as one side of the building will house several classrooms.
The next phase of the project will be to put the floor in, which they hope to do next year. It will feature in-floor heating. Peters said they will proceed with the finishing work inside as money allows. He is confident that the congregation, along with a great deal of faith in God will have no problems getting to their goal. He estimates that the total project will cost about $500,000. Quoting Phillipines 4:19 in the bible, Peters said, “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
About 125 people attended the announcement dinner and many donated to the cause that evening. The generosity of those gathered tallied up to $2,070 that evening.
Peters acknowledged the hard work of the building committee members and named them off. Chair is Rick Boersema, members are Gord Armstrong, Darryl and Corey Dyck, Ansgar Lucke, Paul Kyro, Mark and Susan Douglas, Albert Beller and David Peters.
Emcee for the evening, Pastor Gord Armstrong, said the congregation should “Dare to be a Peter.” “We need to dare to step out and take a risk and accept this challenge.”
Both Armstrong and Peters encouraged everyone to pray for the project.
Special guest, Pastor Doug Doyle, of Thunder Bay, spoke to everyone about how his covenant church in Thunder Bay went through a similar project. He arrived in the city about 12 years ago and had about 200 people per week at church. Eventually they took a leap and built a new church that holds about 700 people. Now they have 1,400 members and hold several services to accommodate everyone.
He said they were afraid to take each step as he said Rainy River members of the church will likely be. He however, said by trusting in God, they will make it through the fear of each step.
Pastor Larry Fullerton of the Off Lake covenant church brought greetings to the dinner and asked the Lord to bless this project.
Several musical interludes took place throughout the joyous evening. Mark and Tina Mast and Gerry Jolicouer and Mike McInerney sang songs fitting the announcement.
Peters said work on the site, which is located just west of the town garage on Hwy. 11, will begin as soon as the weather allows.