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Message from Pastor Ken Radant

Hi everyone!  I trust your week is going well. It’s nice to have the sunshine again today, after this past week’s rains. (They were needed, but still, it seemed a little too cool for August, didn’t it?)

It’s hard to believe that this is, in fact, the last week of August. I sense lots of activity around me as people are getting ready for September with a new school year and all the other activities that will re-launch. This means we’re also just over 2 weeks away from our big 100th anniversary party on Sept 15. It’s exciting to see plans coming together for that event, too.

On that subject, did you know….  that in our 100-year history West Vancouver Baptist has gathered in 3 different church buildings, each of which has gone through a number of phases of renovation and expansion? Most of this activity took place during our first 50 years—which was also a time of building in our community and in Canada generally. A quick overview looks something like this:

  • 1921 – first building, a 1-room meeting place at 15th and Dutchess
  • 1922 – expansion more than doubling the size
  • 1931 – another expansion of another 15 feet
  • 1949-50 – a new, larger building on the same site
  • 1953 – purchase of a manse (a house for the pastor—would you believe $13,000?!)
  • 1955 – the lower hall was rebuilt
  • 1958 – an adjacent house and 2 lots purchased for education space ($11,000!!)
  • 1960-61 – kitchen was remodeled
  • 1964-65 – our current Mathers property purchased
  • 1966-67 – our current sanctuary and main CE facility built (more exterior wings added later)

It’s quite a story of growth, building, and investment. You’ll have a chance to read a more detailed account of how it all unfolded in the anniversary booklet that will be available on Sept 15—complete with some wonderful pictures!  Thanks so much to the team for putting that together.

Investment is certainly a good word to describe this process. We’re all aware of how much property has appreciated over the past century. I’m not sure what the actual cost was for the first building, but I am confident that it was a stretch for that first group, supplemented by many hours of sacrificial labor. When the 2nd was constructed in 1949 it was valued at $30,000—which also seems like a bargain now, but would have been a lot in those days. When our current sanctuary was built in 1967, the church saved a ton of money through volunteer labor and donations from various companies, but the total cost was still $273,000—and that was considered a huge and sacrificial commitment at the time. I can’t even imagine what it would cost to put the same facility together today. My condo listed for quite a bit more, not that many years ago!

But when I think about the history of our church, I find that I don’t really give a lot of thought to the appreciation of the property’s monetary value. (I do sometimes reflect on the cost of upkeep and maintenance, especially when talking with the treasurer, but that’s another story.)  What I mostly think about is how many people’s lives have been touched by this congregation during the past 100 years. How many individuals gathered to worship in these different buildings? How many classes were taught? How many folks came to discover God’s grace in Jesus, to be baptized, to find their lives radically changed as they began to follow Him? How many gifts went overseas to promote global mission, to feed the hungry and train leaders and spread the good news? In how many ways has the Kingdom of God been spread as a result of the ministry, the worship, the shared life, and the sacrificial giving of this community as we gathered in our various buildings and served there and elsewhere?

There’s no way to monetize spiritual impact. But if there was some kind of “joy meter” that tracked the excitement in heaven over lives changed, ministry performed, and worship offered, I suspect that the return on investment from all the effort and time and resources that have been given over the decades has appreciated many, many-fold. More precious still have been the many “well done” commendations from our loving Father, and the meetings in which people who first came to know Jesus at WVBC were able to greet Him face to face on arrival in His presence. In the light of eternity, no one who has invested in these various buildings—and more important, in the church that has gathered in them—will be disappointed by the ultimate return.

That’s a huge encouragement. And it’s one of the reasons it’s good for us to spend time this year reflecting on what God has done over the past century.

Well, I’ve gone long this week. I’ll finish with a quick heads-up that this coming Sunday we will finish our series in Psalms with a look at Psalm 139. It’s one of my favorites and is always an encouraging song to study. If you have a few moments to review it and meditate on it, please do as we prepare to worship together.

Meanwhile, have a wonderful week. Blessings!

Pastor Ken