Unexpected Legacy: When the end is just the beginning

From death… new life. Sometimes, for various reasons churches come to the end of their lifespan. When that happens, those decades of hard work, faithful service, and sacrificial giving that have sustained it for decades do not have to go for naught. In fact, through the proviso that most of our Fellowship Pacific churches have written into their constitutions and by-laws, if and when a church comes to an end, its assets can be remobilized in various ways to ensure its legacy continues.

At this point in time, the Board of Fellowship Pacific, through the staff team at the Ministry Centre, is managing properties, buildings, and other assets of former churches to maximize Kingdom impact with a special emphasis on nurturing new congregations into existence.

The approach our Board takes is to look for strategic partnerships with new churches that can “pay the bills” (utilities, insurance, property taxes, etc.) while their church plant (or satellite campus of their larger church) gains traction at that location with the hope of developing a longer term arrangement where the new church takes full responsibility for the property after establishing itself there.

The former Nordel church in North Delta is one of these buildings. It is currently being used by four congregations that otherwise would have limited options for meeting regularly in such a strategic location. Although Nordel Fellowship Church ceased operations in 2013, its assets were turned over to Fellowship Pacific and the original church building has since been maintained, repaired, and improved as needed by the tenant churches as they began meeting there.

Meanwhile, the Fellowship Pacific Board strategically sold an adjacent property to a housing developer and is reinvesting those returns into ministry. Some of those funds are being used to improve the Nordel building’s external envelope, improving safety, security, and aesthetic appeal. Below are several photos of a recent restoration at the original Nordel church building funded by the sale of the adjacent property. This project was completed on time and on budget for approximately $50K and has repaired years of damage to doors, windows, and siding from ongoing leaks and weather exposure!

Another portion of the funds ($1M) has been committed to support church planting through partnerships with existing churches and an additional $1M has been disbursed to our partnering agencies to facilitate various ministry initiatives they are leading.

With eternal thanks to the faithful and committed congregants of the original Nordel church, no fewer than a dozen churches and ministries have benefitted from their sacrificial giving even though the original church is no longer in existence.

Of course, we never rejoice in seeing a church cease operations, but we do rejoice in God’s provision and his promise to build his kingdom where we are faithful to nurture it.