The Neighbourhood Church has been focused on its local community for the past 33 years; now a major new development will both strengthen that community and enhance the church’s ability to support their neighbours.
I’m here already, in the blink of an eye: into the final period of life in full-time paid ministry.
My son has already hinted at me retiring and moving to Phoenix and living life on a golf course (maybe there is purgatory after all). But I have always held the theological conviction that I will never retire – just stop getting paid.
It seems like just a few years since I was asked by Jeremy Bell and the Baptist Union of Western Canada to plant a church in the Edmonds neighbourhood. Shelley and I moved in and began to live the adventure of a lifetime.
We had front row seats to watch God begin to craft a motley crew into a community of Christ followers; and to transform a neighbourhood – to redeem both people and place.
Over the 33 years since, we have ridden the rollercoaster of ministry. Southside Community Church has become The Neighbourhood Church, seeking to be engaged in more neighbourhoods than just south Burnaby.
We’ve moved from being seeker sensitive, to church planting, to missional.
Still formed by our theological convictions that God is a missionary God, we have entered a season (after much pain) of learning to dwell with one another, discern where God is at work, and then to discover how we partner with Him in what He is doing in our neighbourhoods.
More than 25 years ago, while dwelling in the Edmonds neighbourhood, we discerned that God was calling us to obtain the property next door to our current site. The property was for sale at $950,000 and, having exactly no money, we offered $900,000.
The offer was immediately countered with $2.5m. Clearly the owner did not want to sell, especially to a church. For 20 years we attempted to find ways to purchase that property, but to no avail.
The plan is to build a 50-storey tower with 480 units of housing for families, a 300-seat theatre and a 50,000-square-foot ministry centre for the church and other groups.
About five years ago, we felt called to spend the whole year praying fervently about obtaining this property. We stated that if God did not act in the course of the year, we would drop our ambition of obtaining it for further development. Nothing happened.
Two months after we had finished praying, and had relinquished our hopes for the property, a well-dressed woman participated in our gathering. As soon as we had finished, she shot to the front to have a conversation with me.
“Have you ever thought of buying the property next door? You could do some amazing things if you acquired it.”
After preaching, I am always tired. I was likely a little short as well. “Lady, we have tried to buy that land for close to 25 years. Unless you are the real estate agent for the guy who owns it coming to tell us that he wants to now sell it to us, this is a waste of time conversation.”
Turns out she was the real estate agent, and she was coming to us because the man who owned the property had died during the previous year – (‘Don’t get our church praying for you’ is what I learned here) – and that his kids had inherited the property and wanted to sell it.
Long story short, we bought it. We still had no money, and it was considerably more expensive, but 25 years of prayers were now coming into reality.
The Neighbourhood Church building has seen better days, but the congregation still has a strong vision for its community. Members of the Imagine Edmonds Project include, from left, Pastor Craig Bosnick, Mike Gin and Senior Pastor Cam Roxburgh.
Over the past four years we have been learning to live in God’s agency rather than our own. The Imagine Edmonds project, as we have come to call it, has taken many twists and turns, but we have continued to pray.
Every time we look, we see God’s hand on us and on what He is doing in our neighbourhood.
He has turned our small vision into something far greater than we had ever dreamed or imagined. He has used many people who are not even followers of Him, let alone members of the church, to accomplish His purposes in the Edmonds area.
The Province has even approved funding for us as their flagship BC Builds project.
We are now at the final stages of getting rezoning accepted (having now passed third reading at city hall) and having the promised money from the Province released.
If everything goes according to plan, we will be building a 50-storey tower with 480 units of housing for families, a 300-seat theatre for neighbourhood use, and a 50,000-square-foot ministry centre which will house not only the church’s ministry, but several other local organizations.
The project will transform the neighbourhood for decades to come.
Don’t get me wrong – we still work hard. But never have I had as much fun as now. There is no pressure to accomplish anything, only the freedom to pay attention to what God is doing and to celebrate the incredible story He has invited us into.
Godspeed to this wonderful project! May The Lord continue to work through you folks.
Are you including a gym in your new premise to encourage more active participation and outreach through racquetball / basketball / volleyball sports?
WOW! This is amazing Cam! Happy un-retirement to you as you participate in God’s redemptive plan!