Since mid-May, we’ve been out of our church building.
It’s an odd feeling, meeting one week in a spot where the congregation has met faithfully since 1908; the next week, scrambling to find a suitable spot.
In this case, issues with the building itself forced us to "(at least temporarily) relocate.
Providence
The Rev. Colin Buchanan often refers to “God-incidences” rather than coincidence. Nothing occurs apart from the provision of God, and our situation is certainly no exception.
Without going into details, the timeline of the week of our move went as follows:
Monday - discover issue
Tuesday - decide to leave
Wednesday - find a new (temporary) home
A lot of talking took place over those three days. Most of our congregation, I daresay all of it, was talking to God, asking for His guidance and provision. Our leadership spent hours on the phone to each other, other parties, and to members of the congregation. Despite the rapid decision, there was a real sense of momentum and initiative amongst the leadership. This was an opportunity to see what the Lord would have for us next and to approach some questions that we’ve been dealing for a while.
Provision
Some of our congregation at Latta St. have distinct memories of Overtoun House. The large baronial house sits at the foot of the Lang Craigs high above the town. Notably, it was the home of Lord Overtoun, who in the early 1900s led a landmark challenge on behalf of the Free Church to the newly-reunified United Free Church.
In more recent times, Overtoun house served as a maternity hospital, a Christian retreat centre, and more.
And now, temporarily, it serves as the location where Dumbarton Free High Church meets every Sunday morning.
Overtoun House today is a registered charity. Led by Rev. Bob Hill, the house serves as a private residence and the home of multiple ministries, and Rev. Hill graciously opened his doors to DFHC as soon as he heard of the situation.
The speed at which everything developed was astounding. There was a frenetic burst of phone calls, intense conversation and furious emailing; but within 48 hours we’d decided on a course of action.
That was in May. As it turned out, finding an interim meeting place was the easy part. Planning for the future is a lot harder.
Planning
We start with God. There can be no successful planning for the future apart from Him. He led us to Overtoun, and now we look for Him to lead to the next spot. But as we wait for Him, there are a few principles that our leadership has kept in mind for our next meeting place:
In town: we are Dumbarton Free Church, and it’s our desire to continue our presence here
Fit for the future: we’re looking for a place that provides room for growth, a place that will work not just for the next year, but the next decade
Ambitious: this is both a principle and a prayer. ‘Attempt great things for God; expect great things from God.’ We aim high, for His glory.
How will all those principles play out? How will the Lord answer? We don’t yet know - but we wait on Him, and look for the Lord’s continued work.