PAC Neepawa looking ahead to its grand opening

Details

Published on Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Photo by Eoin Devereux. Stafford Greer, pastor for the Prairie Alliance Church in Neepawa.

By Eoin Devereux

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

The finishing touches are being made to the new home of the Prairie Alliance Church (PAC) in the former Neepawa Funeral Home building. 

PAC Neepawa is part of the Christian Missionary Alliance, which is just over 100 years old and recently celebrated its 53rd year in Portage la Prairie. After a multi-million dollar expansion to its facilities in Portage in 2013, PAC turned its attention to Neepawa, selecting it as the first location to establish a new congregation. Stafford Greer, along with several members of his congregation, have been working around the clock to renovate their space and get it ready for the opening service on Sunday, Oct. 18.

“It has been a fair amount of work. It’s been basically a full renovation of the building from changing it from where it was to where we needed it to be. A lot of work was put in by volunteers from around the community, as well as members of PAC Portage la Prairie. There have been several people who have travelled up here every Monday to assist with the work. We’ve also had a couple highly skilled tradespeople volunteer their time and resources to help. We’re really thankful for all the assistance people have given to bring [the building] up to the right level of excellence that we want this place to reflect. We want to have a building that the community can be proud of, that the church will be proud of and can actually be used by our community. We want to make sure that this is something that makes Neepawa and area a better place,” noted Greer.

Greer said there are a few final touches that are being looked after right now for the coffee cafe, foyer space and auditorium in which to host services.

“There has been some work going on in this space. We wanted to make sure that the main stage and gathering area would work within the intimate space we have. I feel as though we’ve done a good job in the auditorium with the main stage, the sound system and the video projectors. We had to be very creative with our use of technology. We also put a lot of effort to make sure this space could be used in a wide variety of ways,” said Greer. “There are also just a few little things that have to be completed in the main foyer. The edging and trim for example. As well, a self serve cafe will be installed. That’ll be a permanent island fixture. There are a few smaller details, with painting and touch-ups that are required. We already installed a new exterior window to allow more natural light into the space. It’s really just the little touches right now that are keeping us busy.”

The grand opening service on Sunday, Oct. 18 is scheduled for 11:00 am. Greer noted that this is open to everyone, whether you have a church background or not.

“If you are curious about spirituality, you’re welcome here,” stressed Greer, “Part of our church’s mandate is to make the community we’re a part of better, regardless of how many people from the town come to our church. If people become curious about us as a byproduct of that outreach, great, but it’s not the end all. We just want to bless people.”