For close to ten years now, discussions have been underway at St. Paul’s about the possibility of “one day” considering the expansion of our church property to include the adjacent Ottawa Christian School.

Honouring a handshake agreement made a number of years ago when the school was first beginning to consider the possibility of relocating to a new, larger facility, in 2007 the OCS Board notified St. Paul’s of their intent to move in the Fall of 2010, thereby giving St. Paul’s “first choice” to bid on the property.

After more than two years of prayerful deliberation, careful planning, collaborative negotiation and a real spirit of working together with the Ottawa Christian School Board, today St. Paul’s takes ownership of this adjacent property and the school building, essentially doubling the area of our location at Woodroffe and the Queensway.

Throughout this process, we have constantly wrestled with the timing, the size of the project and the implications of making this acquisition.  Confidently, we can say that this is not being done for the glory of any team or individual -- but as a step of faith for the future to see where God will lead as the ministry at St. Paul’s continues to thrive and expand in Ottawa.

At the most crucial time in the purchase process -- the true “go or no go” decision point -- we laid a fleece before the Lord and the Congregation.  We asked for a certain sum of money to be pledged by the congregation in 2008 and subsequently in 2009 to meet the bank’s requirement to show the financial strength of the congregation in order to procure the necessary mortgage.

When a few of us sat together to count all the pledge forms one Sunday morning (the day of the deadline), we found ourselves just $500 short of the goal for 2008, even after counting the pledges twice.  Was this a sign that we were “so close that any small contribution could easily push us over the top,” or was it a sign that we should not proceed, since we had not met the target?

The answer was immediately forthcoming, as we discovered one more pledge for $1000 that somehow had been missed in both rounds of counting.  God truly spoke through that event, and once again confirmed that His grace was to be sufficient for our needs.

At the end of 2008 and throughout 2009, the congregation fully met the requirements of the bank in demonstrating the necessary financial commitment, and as of January 2010, the school has passed into our hands.

The worship service above is clear testimony to God’s Faithfulness and our thankfulness as we step out in faith to follow wherever He leads for the future.

Thank you to all those involved -- the committee, the Presbytery, the Congregation and most of all to our Lord and Saviour for vision, commitment, perseverance, support and faithfulness throughout this process.