This is being written after a beautiful weekend of celebrating God's goodness at our Freedom Pavilion Grand Opening. I spent quite a bit of time putting together "thank-yous" for the dedication service and the ribbon cutting and want to share some of them with you. When we talk about the vision, mission and core values of the church, it's the church herself who embodies them. This project has been an incredible example of just that.

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"Thank you to the original Pavilion Committee led by Julie Schroth: Brian Domm, Sandra Park, Pastor Erin Jamieson and Callie Schmitz. You poured so much of your time and talent into dreaming about how we would use this building and then how to make it a reality. This was no small feat and we honour your work.

"Thank you to Brian Domm, specifically, who acted as the construction manager and oversaw every detail of construction. Your expertise was vital but we are especially grateful for the excitement and joy you brought to all of the very hard work that you did from day 1 back in December to landscaping last week.

"Thank you to the Board and Finance Committee who worked alongside the Committee every step of the way, giving oversight and taking on the risks that a project of this size brings with it. Your faith and thoughtful stewardship is something I wish more people could witness in real-time the way I get to.

"Thank you to Pastor Erin who took leadership of this project in March, jumped into a steep learning curve and saw it all the way through to storage shelves and pipe insulation. Your dedication to seeing this day happen kept us all believing we’d cross the finish line and here we are. We appreciate you so much.

"Thank you to every one of you who showed up, sometimes with only a few hours notice, to spread out straw or dig it back out again, to rake and rake and rake, to move in and move out and even today, to decorate and serve. All of it mattered and has made today possible.

"And thank you to each one who has sacrificed financially to build this pavilion. I remind you of the promise of God in 2 Corinthians 9 that when you have sowed generously, you will reap generously. We fully believe that and also that Jesus will be known in all that we do here at Freedom – you have helped us to expand our reach and ability to serve for the kingdom."

- September 25, 2022

With so much gratitude,
Pastor Tracy