Partnership makes vision a reality
by Ana Watts
Construction of the Church of the Resurrection in the Parish of the Nerepis and St. John will begin on April 1, thanks to a low interest loan and a loan guarantee from the diocese.
At a meeting in early December, the finance committee unanimously passed a motion to invest $350,000 in the church construction at 4.5 per cent interest and guarantee a $500,000 loan ($360,000 long-term, $160,000 short term) from the Bank of Nova Scotia. The diocese will use funds in its 3.5 million dollar share of the Diocesan Consolidated Investment Fund. The balance of the $22 million fund belongs to parishes.
“We are delighted with this opportunity to invest in our own church,” says Bishop Claude Miller. “We have been behind this project since the beginning. I would recommend, perhaps even challenge parishes with outside investments to take advantage of these kinds of opportunities. The money invested in our church is of much greater value than the money invested in the stock market.”
According to finance committee chair Murry Arnott, his committee was looking for ways to invest in the church rather than commercial ventures. “We have a safe investment at 4.5 per cent and we are able to support a vibrant parish.”
The Parish of the Nerepis and St. John is the result of a successful amalgamation of the former parishes of Grand Bay, Greenwich, Ketepec and Westfield in 2003. Each parish owned aging churches and rectories that together consumed more than $50,000 worth of heat and lights in a single year.
“We estimate energy costs for our new building will not exceed $15,000 per year,” says Andrew Logan, churchwarden and chair of the Church of the Resurrection building committee. “We will also save substantially on insurance, snow removal, lawn care and maintenance costs. Maintenance costs for the older buildings were overwhelming all of us.”
Bishop Miller, as executive assistant to Bishop Bill Hockin, worked with the original parishes over several years as they explored ways to manage their unmanageable expenses yet remain a faith community with vibrant ministries. Once the people got to know each other, through community-building events and services, they decided amalgamation was the best solution to their financial problems and offered wonderful opportunities for mission and ministry.
When the new parish was established, most of the old church buildings were deconsecrated and sold. The church in Grand Bay was retained as a parish centre with offices and meeting spaces. St. Paul’s in Oak Point was retained for worship in the farthest reaches of the parish. Most of the people, however, worship at River Valley Middle School and are anxious to have a place to call home.
“We pay about $370 each week to rent the school and the costs to keep the parish centre open are significant too,” says Archdeacon Vicars Hodge, rector of the parish. “As inadequate as these facilities are, their operating costs total at least as much as we would pay in a new facility. That is why I am so grateful for the glad-hearted partnership we have within the diocesan family. The financial investment is just one more step in our cooperation and collaboration. Our relationship with the wider church in the diocese has been a great help since the beginning. We worked closely with the Rev. David Kierstead, chair of the diocesan property committee, on the design of the building. He was a tremendous help, and of course when the design was complete and we took the plans to his committee for approval, there was no problem because they helped to draw them!”
In order to finance the building, furniture and fixtures, the new parish invested the resources of the original parishes, including the proceeds from the property sales and other fundraising initiatives, for a total of about $760,000. It also launched a five-year capital campaign that raised cash and pledges totaling $640,000.
That amount was two-thirds of the way to the parish’s $2 million goal.
With that kind of down payment, most families and institutions would be greeted with open arms in any bank’s mortgage department. Churches, however, are not welcome at all.
“Banks don’t mortgage churches because they would never want to be seen foreclosing on a church,” says Mr. Arnott. “We all know that churches don’t go bankrupt, they always pay their debts, but banks still won’t mortgage churches.”
So the parish continues to gather in the school for Sunday services and compete for the limited space in the parish centre. “Our choir had to practice off-site for an entire season because there just wasn’t room for them and all the other groups,” says Archdeacon Hodge.
“Without the loan and the loan guarantee from the diocese, we wouldn’t be able to build now,” says Mr. Logan. “And if and when we were able to build, it would probably be a much smaller building that wouldn’t really meet our needs.”
“A scaled down building would scale down our vision,” says Archdeacon Hodge. “Now, thanks to the generous ruling by the finance committee, all the barriers are out of the way.”
Heavy equipment moved on the building site in December and over the winter will carve three level areas from the hill overlooking the St. John River, one area for the church, two areas for parking. Building construction will begin the first of April.
“Our people have been incredibly faithful during this journey,” says the archdeacon. “We will worship and celebrate in our own Church of the Resurrection by Advent of next year ––Christmas for sure.”
