Our Vision is to see "Lives Transformed in the Okanagan Valley"
A 75 year legacy
What's been the Process so far?
What's the plan for WPC Downtown?
What's happening in the Mission?
What's the building like?
What about the Ministry Opportunities?
How Do I Get Involved?
What are the Financial Plans?
Next Steps
The Story So Far
We have a 75 year history of taking steps of faith!
As we prayerfully continue in our proposal to purchase First Mennonite’s Church building in downtown Kelowna, we are reminded of our 75-year history of taking steps of faith to see the gospel shared in the Okanagan valley.
Our legacy is not about buildings but about transformed lives and impacted communities in our city, valley and beyond. We want to show the love of God and, at the same time, teach and inspire future generations to follow Jesus in the same way we have been inspired by those who have faithfully gone before us in our history (Psalm 100:5).
The purchase of the First Mennonite Church building is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to see WPC expand in this God-given mission to a needy and vibrant part of our valley – downtown Kelowna.
What has been the process with the building so far?
A few months ago (early October), we learned through a long-term WPC member that First Mennonite Church (1305 Gordon Drive) was selling their building. They invited five churches to make a bid by December 31 2022.
On December 13th, the WPC board agreed to make a bid for $ 3.5 million. The bid was not binding – the WPC congregation would still need to agree on the purchase.
In early January we learned that FMC chose WPC to continue to negotiate with.
CLICK HERE for more detailed information
CLICK HERE: New Building Financial Update and Pledge Letter from Elders (February 21st 2023)
Appraised Value
Purchase Price
Starting a New Ministry in Downtown Kelowna!
What's the plan for WPC Downtown?
WPC has a long history of starting new congregations. After much prayer and listening, the elders believe that now is the time to start another in the downtown area and ask the South community to move and initiate the ministry work at WPC "Downtown" (current working name).
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A place where we can worship and learn about Jesus
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A place we can show God’s love to our community and fulfil Jesus’ commandment to “Go and make disciples of all nations.”
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A place for celebration, help, and for community, a place that will offer childcare and other community services.
What's happening in the Mission?
The South Community have reached the point where they are facing the strong possibility of not having anywhere to meet come June 2023.
While disappointed that they have to move out of the Mission area, the South are excited about the possibility of creating, building and shaping a new ministry opportunity for our wider church community.
The plan is to continue to focus on the Mission with our growing Community Group ministry.
What's the building like?
It’s fantastic – FMC has done an incredible job of looking after their building. It’s almost 35 years old, and so there are things that you expect need updating over time, but generally speaking, it’s ideal for our use and also will be in high demand for community use due to its smaller size and location.
AND it’s right next to the popular rail trail, which will allow us all sorts of outreach opportunities.
For more details about the building and lots of photos please click here for the info document.
Two important things to note are that the church is adjacent to Rail Trail and on a major road in Kelowna, making the location ideal for outreach to tourists and passersby. The location also makes it an ideal place for a community grocery/kitchen for those who need extra support in the area.
Thousands of people drive, walk and bike past this building every day. It’s close to thousands of residents and located near a rapidly expanding residential and commercial area on Clement.
#MorethanSunday
We see the FMC building as far more than a place to worship on Sundays!
Following a similar model in Europe and other parts of Canada, we see it as a Community Centre first that holds church services at the weekends.
Apart from our current ministry stabilizing, expanding and being enhanced, our prayer would be that it would be a hub of community activity throughout the week. Indeed the funding model hinges on this.
"Core" Ministry - Sundays, small groups, prayer
Ministry to the Church - social gatherings, meals etc.
Ministry to the Community - too many possibilities to list!
Rail Trail Outreach / Biking "Pit Stop"
How Do I Get Involved?
We are at the place where we are looking carefully at our finances and our ability to afford this new building. We do have cash reserves, and the initial proposal is to use $500,000 of these to reduce any mortgage we may need. Using this money still leaves significant reserves for future plans and the contingency of WPC as a whole.
We will seek congregational approval before we move ahead; however, we need to find out what people are willing to commit through one-time gifts and monthly giving. We are seeking these pledges by the end of March.
Pray
Pray that God will provide during this campaign by people pledging monthly and one-time gifts.
Give
Pledge a one-time financial gift to support the campaign. See below for details.
Pledge
Pledge a monthly gift to cover ongoing expenses. See below for the plan.
Fundraising Goals
Although our gifts may look different because we are all at different stages of life and income, New Testament teaching calls us to give generously and cheerfully, and it's meant to be a sacrifice,
We are incredibly blessed by our generous family – thank you. We also want to encourage those in our church who are yet to start giving to start now.
Total Cost of Purchase
From WPC Reserves
Finance or Fundraise
Monthly Pledges Goal
Monthly Pledges
Pledge to give monthly – If 300 of us increased our regular giving to our budget by $1000 a year ($83.33 p.m.), that’s an increase in our budget of $300,000 per year.What a difference that would make!! Imagine if it was 400 of us. 500?
The monthly increases in giving will go toward our network expenses in our unified budget and will help us move forward in many areas, including the monthly cost of the new building.
If that’s too much right now for you – any amount per month has a positive impact!
Kickstart Donations
We are praying for $3 million!
In addition to a monthly commitment, A one-time GIFT reduces the amount of money we need to borrow and then pay for.
THE PURCHASE OF this unique building will cost $3.5 million. The proposed plan is to use $500,000 from our cash reserves, AND fundraise/mortgage the remaining $3 MILLION.
WE ARE praying that God will give us ALL the money we need so we won’t need a mortgage! Please pray about what you can pledge to give.
Next Steps
You can make your monthly and one-time pledges by calling the office (250-765-6622– M-Th, 9am-3pm), filling out a pledge card at church.
We will follow up on the pledge campaign by the end of April.
If you decide to start giving more each month now (rather than pledging) then please go to our giving page.
Together, let’s move forward in our vision to see “lives transformed by Jesus in the Okanagan valley”!
Download : Financial Update and Pledge Letter
Download: New Building Information Document
