December 2023 Update

GOD’S HOME COMES ALIVE!  

This is the season of joy. This is the season we live out the joyful anticipation of Christmas – the moment that God comes to dwell with us through His son Jesus. Because of this, we can now experience His power in our lives when we allow His Kingdom to come in our daily affairs. At Central Campus this joy took on a new level as we continued to move ministries into our new expansion! As one of our BUILD volunteers, Joyce Forster said as she cleaned the spaces in preparation for the phased move in, “Slowly this beautiful mansion of the Lord’s comes alive!” 

It is a joy to hear the spaces filled with the laughter and praise songs of children and people coming together to get closer to God and each other!  

In the new year we will see more ministries move into the space, including Young Adults. Our Centre for the City, including ministries to people in need and to new Canadians will also officially open its doors in the new spaces.  

This is also a gentle reminder that the expansion has been designed with the security of our children (and other vulnerable persons) in mind. When children’s ministries are in progress, access to those spaces in the building will be controlled.  

 

Volunteers Needed 

We now have the space, but will have the volunteers? With Children’s Ministry now in the expansion, we are going to need many new volunteers in roles that include working directly with children, or roles that do not include working with children, such as the Guest Services and more.  Visit here to sign up! 

These are this month’s top construction updates:
  • Praise the Lord that we received our occupancy permit for the Central Campus expansion; some spaces are not accessible while additional work is done.  
  • Levels 1, 2 and 3 are available for ministry and some ministries have already moved in. Others will move in the new year. Level 4 is being used for storage.  
  • Renovations in the SW corner of the existing building have begun. Please watch for signage. Level 1 will be renovated first, then level 2. 
  • Staff and volunteers are fine-tuning the building systems and signage in the expansion. We appreciate your prayers and patience as it could take some time for this to be fully complete.  
  • Most spaces in the expansion have been designed as multi-purpose spaces. Classrooms and larger spaces will be used for children, youth, adults and other ministries.  
  • The new entrance to the south parking lot from 37 Ave is open and fully functional.   
  • Kitchenettes for coffee, snacks etc. are available on all levels. 
  • Exterior concrete sidewalks, curbs, railings and bike racks have been installed.   
  • The northwest and west areas next to the expansion have been paved.  
  • Upgraded carpeting has been installed on the second level of the existing building.   
  • Some operable walls (which divide large spaces into small spaces) have been installed. Some operable walls will arrive and be installed at a later date.  
  • Some exterior work such as line painting in the parking lot and landscaping is deferred to the Spring of 2024. 

Photo Gallery

For more photos click here.

Update Videos

Watch the excitement as some ministries move into their new home! Watch how God is moving in the lives of people, like Colleen, who are getting answers to matters of faith through discipling ministries like Why Believe!

“As I cleaned, I felt overwhelmed with this image, like I’m uncovering this diamond in the rough. I’m cleaning away these layers of debris and construction dust and slowly this beautiful mansion of the Lord’s comes alive. It’s like – wow! Look what God has provided! The people have given their time, tithes and offerings and this is what Christ has produced through us!  

As I wipe the windows and doors, removing layers of dirt, God gives me this glimpse into what He does with each of us. Little by little, Christ cleans us from the inside out, unveiling each of us as a new creation – the person we each were designed to be. As I scrubbed, I thought about all the children that are going to come, what they are going to learn, how they are going to grow and become more and more like Jesus. Some of these jobs God calls us to do are not fun, but if you stick with it and let God work through you, beauty happens.”   

-  Joyce Forster, CSC volunteer sharing her experience of cleaning to prepare the expansion for opening.  

Importance of Prayer


Praise and Prayer of the month

Praise the Lord for dwelling among us this Christmas season! For delivering many of our ministries safely into our new homes at the Central Campus expansion before the end of the year and for continuing to uphold His people and His projects as we step into 2024!  

Visit this link for a full list of BUILD prayer requests for December 2023.

Finance Update

Through your generosity to November 2023, God has provided $21.7M (Chapter 1 $15.7M, Chapter 2 $6.0M) leaving $3.8M remaining in our Chapter 2 goal. We are grateful! We still have a way to go to reach our goal. Thank you for continuing to pray and persevere with us in our journey to “complete the work,” physically, spiritually, and financially, in the spirit of 2 Corinthians 8:11. 

To see where giving is at today, visit here. 

The financial plan for the project is available here.   

To give, visit here.  

Read, Watch, Catch up...

Just joining us on our journey to BUILD? God has been leading us in these projects since 2018. To learn more about the mountains and valleys of this project, visit these links: 

  • Watch the BUILD update on the four-year BUILD anniversary here 
  • Watch the BUILD Journey mini documentary we aired on our three-year BUILD anniversary here 
  • Read Q&A’s here. 

 

Menu