Visitors of the New Hope Christian Fellowship Church in Shawville gathered after Sunday’s service for a ceremony to celebrate the completion of the church’s recent renovations.
“There’s no part of the old building that hasn’t in some way been renovated or improved,” pastor Stuart Marples told THE EQUITY ahead of the event.
He said the discussion about expanding the space and increasing accessibility at the church began over 10 years ago.
“Before the renovation, we had an outdoor ramp so you could get into the building, but once you were in, there was no washroom on that level, there was no place to get a cup of coffee on that level, there was not even any place to have a private conversation on that on that level. So we really wanted to make the building accessible to an aging population,” Marples said.
“But we also wanted to make it welcoming and available for the community in hopes the building would be used more than just on a Sunday morning.”
The church has previously hosted a weekly Friday playgroup for young children, as well as a community parenting class. Marples said he hopes the newly added space will make it possible for the church to host more community activities going forward.
At Sunday’s ribbon cutting, Shawville mayor Bill McCleary celebrated the church’s efforts to grow its community, congratulating many involved in the project before highlighting pastor Stuart Marples.
“Kudos to Stuart. He’s brought large crowds and in this day in age not too many people are interested in church, and he’s managed to grow this. Congratulations.” he said.
Three guiding priorities
Marples explained that before committing to any renovation project, the church agreed to three criteria the project would have to satisfy: to make the building more accessible, to do the project debt-free, and to donate at least the equivalent of 10 per cent of what was spent on the church to mission projects.
A year and a half ago, Bryson contractor Justin Presley made a proposal for renovations that satisfied the first criterion.
When it came to the second criterion, a good portion of the funding needed came from proceeds of the sale of the Wesleyan church on Shawville’s James Street in 2014. The Central Canada District of the Wesleyan Church held the funds with the promise of reinvesting them in New Hope once it had a plan for the money.
“We realized that we would not need an aggressive fundraising campaign, so we simply put it out to our congregation and to former attendees, friends of our congregation, family members that grew up here and have since moved away, and asked if they’d like to make a donation or a pledge,” Marples said.
Funds held with the Central Canada District of the Wesleyan Church combined with $125,000 in community donations made it possible for the church to complete this renovation and expansion, costing just under $600,000 including mission commitments, completely debt-free.
To satisfy its third criterion, the church has committed a total of $54,000 to overseas and domestic missions, including a four-year funding commitment to a grade school in Nicaragua, digging a well and providing sanitation and hygiene training support in northern Ghana, and supporting the growth of the Wesleyan Church in Western Canada. The church is also currently working on a project with the Wesleyan Standard Church of Egypt. Next February, one or two members of the church will travel to Egypt as members of a broader mission team.
Reverend Dr. Peter Rigby was the district superintendent of the Central Canada District of The Wesleyan Church when discussions began about renovations to New Hope’s space.
“It’s fantastic to see that dream has become a reality,” he said on Sunday.
