Dear Renfrew Baptist Church family -
As we begin this month of May, we wanted to take a minute to thank you for your contribution to the ministry of Renfrew Baptist Church. We are continually amazed at our congregation and the way that God has orchestrated you all to be a part of it. We are excited for the last Sunday in May where we will “officially” kick-off our Renovation Capital Campaign with a fun pizza party after the morning service. There will be more details to follow but make sure to book this date off in your calendar!
In light of our preparations to be ready to renovate our church, it has become increasingly apparent that our focus needs to be on our church building and not the other buildings that we currently own. We have come to the realization that acting as landlords is not our forte, and that we are at the point where significant financial investment in renovations to our 2nd parsonage (1408 Renfrew Drive) would be required, which we do not believe would be financially prudent at this time. On May 1, we met with Lorie (our current tenant) and informed her that we will be moving to sell the 2nd parsonage within this year. As a council, we shared this at our Community Gathering and Prayer time held on Sunday night.
We know that there is a wealth of emotions that comes with a decision like this. This decision was not made lightly nor was it made without personal care. In our meeting with Lorie, we assured her that she will be not left alone to figure out what her next accommodations will look like and we communicated to her that we would be willing to cover some expenses that she will incur as she moves in the fall. Many of our council members have close relationships with Lorie and although this decision is incredibly hard because of the personal connection, we as a council believe that it is the right move to make at this time for the future of Renfrew Baptist Church.
Parsonage #2, with Lorie living in it for over 25 years, has been a legacy of Renfrew Baptist Church. Lorie welcomed and cared for numerous people who needed the deep love and care that Lorie was always there with open arms to provide. We loved that this parsonage was used for something greater than what it was originally bought for. Now those funds can be repurposed into our main church building helping to finance a significant amount of the expected costs of this project. Little did our fore-fathers know what they originally provided us, which we are extremely grateful for today and pray that they would be proud of where we are as a church.
We understand that there may be questions, concerns or comments as you read you this - please feel free to reach out to the council at: council@renfrewbaptist.ca
Blessings -
Renfrew Baptist Church Council
May 5, 2022 | From Renfrew Baptist Church Council