Generous Kingdom thinking enables church legacy to continue

Jason Rivers
Special to Spur Ottawa

Many older church congregations in Canada are struggling to get by. They often own buildings with a long history of use for the Kingdom, but their small congregations struggle to afford the upkeep. As funds run out, churches often sell their facility to developers or community groups that repurpose the property for secular use. Others, however, are finding creative and generous ways to carry on the property’s Kingdom legacy.

Greenbank Community Church was a church of a few strong and faithful Christians. Planted in 1961, they had a long-established building and a heart for the local community. Sadly, by 2012, when Pastor Ken Hall stepped in to help while they searched for a full-time pastor, their outlook was bleak.

Hall had been studying how to pastor the small church. He knew the chances of turning things around were low. Mergers often struggle as people try to hold onto their church history. The group of baby boomers was struggling to keep young people involved.

“Every time we had a group of young people that might be a constituency for church renewal, once they would graduate high school and a youth church opened up, they all disappeared,” Hall says. “We didn’t have any resident young people that could be raised up and brought into leadership.”

“The look on his face was absolutely stunned.”

Yet, amid the situation, Hall had an idea.

Over in Ottawa’s east end, another team was just starting a church. The new Vineyard group met in homes every second Monday night.

“Our team was seeking the Lord regularly about what neighbourhood in the east end was going to be our mission field, because we really do believe in geography, in taking a neighbourhood,” explains Vineyard team member Richard Long.

Surprisingly, despite their prayers, they felt no answer from God. Looking back, Long says there was a good reason: God had something else in mind.

Hall and Long had a friendship going back 25 years, with the older Hall often mentoring Long. So when Long shared their plans, Hall joked that they should plant the church in Ottawa’s west end, using the Greenbank facility.

“Greenbank Church had been believing God that He had a future for that church and ministry in the community.”

“Richard couldn’t see it himself, but the look on his face was absolutely stunned,” Hall recounts. “He said, ‘We’ll need to pray about that for a while.’”

After several months’ prayer, the Vineyard team was confident this was a “God idea”.

Hall had already presented the challenges of continuing to the Greenbank congregation. Now, with the Vineyard team’s willingness, he presented his idea to the congregation.

The proposal was this: The Greenbank Community Church would officially close. The Vineyard team would assume responsibility for the building and formally plant their church. But the two groups would also form a relationship and the Greenbank congregation would be welcomed into the new Vineyard church.

The final confirmation that God was at work came when they tallied the congregational votes about the transfer—they were all unanimous.

Leading up to the transition, the Vineyard elders and worship team joined the rotation to lead Sunday services, as the Greenbank congregation closed. The process helped foster the relationship with the giving congregation, many of whom chose to join the new Vineyard group.

Vineyard Ottawa officially launched in January, starting with about 70 people and has grown steadily since. Photo by Craig Macartney.

Reflecting on the process, Hall says the most important thing was to “be patient and wait on the Lord. The people at Greenbank Church had been believing God that He had a future for that church and ministry in the community. They were so faithful and so committed to believing God. Don’t get anxious or jump because of pressure. Wait on the Lord.”

Vineyard Ottawa Church officially launched in January, starting with about 70 people and has grown steadily since. On May 13 they are hosting a worship evening as part of a celebration and commissioning weekend, with a commissioning service the morning of May 14.