New minister to help chart future of church without own building
Members of a Kelowna church continue to discuss ideas for a permanent home after the failure of a $20-million redevelopment dream.
The congregation at St. Paul’s United Church on Sunday will formally welcome Rev. Ivy Thomas as their new minister.
She replaces Rev. Richard Chung, who led an ill-fated plan to replace their Lakeshore Road church with a massive new residential and commercial building that would have included a spiritual centre. The old church was demolished, but the ambitious project foundered in 2015 and the property was sold the following year.
“Part of the reason I’m here is to help the congregation figure out what they want their future to look like,” Thomas said Thursday.
“First we have to figure out our mission and vision, and then discuss what sort of space we need to fulfil that,” Thomas said. “It could be a variety of options — churches today are meeting in storefronts, warehouses and movie theatres, among them.”
For the past three years, St. Paul’s 70 members, 70 per cent of whom are over the age of 70, have been sharing the use of the Seventh-day Adventist Church on Springfield Road.
It’s possible the congregation could put the proceeds from the sale of its former 0.65-hectare, L-shaped property, southwest of the corner of KLO Road and Lakeshore Road, toward the construction of a new church.
“Money from the sale was used to pay off bills and debts incurred, and the rest went into investments and reserves,” Thomas said. “I’m not sure we’d have enough, given the realities of the Kelowna real estate and construction market, to buy a new property and rebuild completely.”
The ill-fated redevelopment failed in part because of a “lack of proper financial reporting, controls and governance oversight,” according to a copy of a church bulletin obtained by Global Okanagan.
The failed project created some animosity among church members, particularly those who asked for refunds of donations they’d made toward the redevelopment idea. But the church refused, saying such refunds would be counter to tax law, and the donations are among the funds held in trust for the future.
“Right now, we’re regrouping, healing and working together to deepen our relationships with one another,” Thomas said. “We’re a joyful congregation who have really supported one another through these challenges.”
The United Church Observer, a magazine produced by the church, published an article in April of this year that said ambitious redevelopment plans undertaken by cash-strapped, land-rich congregations can be risky.
The church’s 3,000 properties across Canada are collectively worth about $1 billion, the article said, but redeveloping them to other uses that include a worship centre is an undertaking that may tax the abilities of well-meaning congregationalists.
“Land represents a huge opportunity for a church in transition, but great ideas and good intentions may not be enough,” the article stated. “Wading into property development can be risky without specialized guidance and professional help.”
St. Paul’s church-sharing arrangement with the Seventh-day Adventists can be renewed on an annual basis. Thomas said it could be as long as two years before the congregation decides what its future looks like.
Chung left St. Paul’s last year and is now the minister at Knox United Church in Vancouver.