On Thursday, July 17, Grace hosted an open house at the warehouse facility that will soon be our next ministry home. More than 100 people from the Grace family turned out to walk through the building and to hear the plans for construction and use of the space. Pastor Bartley Sawatsky shared the details of how the leaders at Grace felt great evidence that God had led the church to acquire this particular property. And he shared the build-out and move-in timeline with those in attendance. Pastor Bartley also invited the Grace family members to join in a 4-month finance campaign in effort to raise $150,000 for the purpose of building modification.

For several months, the staff and elders at Grace have been in negotiations to lease the 22,000 square foot warehouse building located at 6670 Campobello Road. This past week, the finishing touches were made to the lease and the keys were acquired. The hope, for now, is that Grace will begin hosting its Sunday services in the facility by mid-November.

The new facility will also be the office site for Grace Brethren Canada and Manantial (a new Hispanic church launching in September). Additionally, Grace will license an independent Christian school called St. Jude’s Academy to operate it’s school program in the facility beginning January 2009.

To see some photos from the Step-In night at Campobello, visit this Flickr page.

It’s just after 3:00 PM on July 15 and I have the keys to 6670 Campobello Road in my pocket! Grace Community Church finally has a home of our own (for 5 years at least).

Of course, this is great news for anyone planning to attend the Step In! Campaign meeting on Thursday night. We will have full access to the building inside and out. Come and see the ultimate “before” picture and try to envision what the place will look like by November when we hope to move in.

STEP-IN MEETING
7:00pm, Thursday, July 17
6670 Campobello Rd.

Here’s a Google map showing how to get to the new building.

Thank you for your prayers. God is doing amazing things, but there is much left to do. However, with the acquisition of the key today, the biggest hurdle has been cleared!