[Dmajackson]

Just something interesting I found. Its on the corner of Exit 4C diagonal to Bedford Commons:

1,500-seat church in works
Baptist church to create hall in area bigger than Rebecca Cohn Auditorium
By PAT LEE Staff Reporter
Thu. Nov 13 - 12:25 PM

Atlantic Canada’s largest Baptist church is going to get larger.

StoneRidge Fellowship, which already boasts a congregation of more than 900, is building a multimillion-dollar facility with a 1,500-seat auditorium, an administrative wing, as well as expanded activities for children and young people.

"Everything will be improved. It’s more space to reach more people," Rev. Les Somers, senior pastor, said recently while watching huge machinery work at the construction site. "We just want to continue to do what we’ve been doing, but in a bigger way."

Located on Temple Terrace, just off Glendale Avenue, the church has bought 22 hectares of land for future development and is using six hectares for the new facility.

The congregation currently worships at its church on Sackville Drive, but that building has been sold to a millwright and construction union to use as a training centre.

Somers said they have to be out by the end of January but the new building won’t be ready until spring, so they’ll be renting space through the winter months.

The pastor said the vision for the new church began in 2003 when they bought the land to accommodate their thriving and growing congregation, as well as a staff of 15 that includes five pastors.

Somers said that the church had already expanded once at its current location, so a new facility was the best option.

"As we’ve grown, we’ve tried to keep ahead of the wave," the pastor said.

Since then, the congregation has been focused on fundraising.

"They’ve raised several million and there’s several million more to come."

He said the new site, just off the Highway 102 exits, gives them better visibility in the community and will serve the current congregation well with about 50 per cent of the congregation coming from the Lower Sackville area, 25 per cent from Bedford and the remainder from within metro.

"This is more central to our congregation. This is ideal for us."

Somers, who has been with the church for 21 years, said they also want the new facility to serve the community at large, with the state-of-the-art auditorium slated to seat more than the Rebecca Cohn.

"We want the community to know this will be available to them," he said. "We feel we’ll be meeting a need."

He said once the new church is built, they’ll be looking at other plans, including adding a seniors’ complex as well as a training facility for clergy.

Somers said none of this would happen without the support and energy of the congregation, which has propelled the plans forward.

"Our people are really committed to the cause," he said. "They’re engaged, they’re with it and they believe."