Father’s House entering the final phase of church completion

Above: Work is moving quickly on the Father’s House’s new church west of Morinville. – Stephen Dafoe Photos

by Stephen Dafoe

Eighteen months after moving an entire church building along Highway 2 over farmer’s fields, The Father’s House is nearing completion of the church at its new location just west of Morinville by Heritage Lake.

The new church for the Father’s House is the former King of Kings Lutheran Church in St. Albert, donated by Landrex. Over the past year, the church was elongated by 75 feet to accommodate the church, Christian School and ministry offices.

But now, a bridge loan has allowed the Father’s House to move forward on completing the interior of the building.

“We secured a great loan in order to finish all the work on the church, and that’s why we’ve been progressing at a more rapid pace. We’re very thankful for that,” said Pastor Greg Fraser. “As of now, we’ve got our sanctuary floor poured, all of our offices are framed up. Our basement is entirely framed up. We’ve got most of the electrical running. We’re just progressing every day. It’s like walking into a changed atmosphere day after day.”

Fraser is anticipating being in the church by June of 2020. The plan is to be well into the facility by September 2020 to accommodate the start of the school year for the Christian School.

“We’ll need a bit of time to get used to the operation of the new facility – so probably June or July,” he said.

The road thus far has been successful for the church. The Landrex donation of the old church, cut into four pieces and moved down the highway saved millions. But beyond that, the church has saved up money to buy the land, and take care of the foundational work. The current loan will pay for all of the rest of the interior finishes to allow them to open the doors next year.

“We needed to secure some financing to be able to progress and finish the entirety of the building,” Fraser explained.

Most of the interior work will be done by tradespeople, although church volunteers may be involved with some exterior landscaping.

“You don’t build churches like you once did, where everybody jumps in. It’s a whole different animal, a whole different project,” Fraser said, adding Richlyn Custom Homes is the project manager for the church build. “But in terms of volunteerism, there’s still a tonne of volunteers in terms of designing the building, planning the flow of traffic, picking out paint colours. All of those things are being done by volunteers.

The Father’s House currently uses the Morinville Community Cultural Centre for its Sunday services. As such, there is a need to move quickly with finishing the project.

“Part of the challenge for our congregation is that we have to carry both a mortgage and rent,” Fraser said. “As quickly as possible, we need to get this finished. That’s why it’s really good that we’ve got this bridging financing to be able to do that.”

For more information on the church, visit TFHChurch.ca.

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