SunRidge

SUNRIDGE -- Our Beginnings

In 1997 the Mennonite Brethren Board of Church Extension invited Michael and Teresa Klassen to consider "planting" a church on the westside of Kelowna. The dream was, and is, to reach out to people who are far from God and help them to understand God's love for them, their need for Him, and a life that could be transformed by Him:

"Leading People To Become Passionately Committed Followers of Jesus"

They moved up and began to "plow the ground", so to speak. There wasn't a church waiting in the wings; everything had to be built from the ground up. There were people to meet -- lots and lots of pre-meetings, lots of prayer, lots of question marks and a lot of faith that God was up to something.

In October, the first service was held at Rose Valley Elementary School and operated on a "skeleton crew." In fact, Pastor Mike "borrowed" people from other churches to lead worship, help with the kids and pitch in to hold services the first while. We called these teams "SWAT teams" -- they literally landed at SunRidge, did their work and left. These friends came from other churches and other denominations; they all pitched in to help this little baby church off and running. As people came they began to understand the vision for a different kind of church; a church where you could come with questions and skepticism and frustrations about God and the church. A church for the unchurched; we met in this gym for half a year and slowly built up teams of people who began to identify themselves as SunRidgers.

Oh, we have to mention the KORG. The KORG is an unforgettable part of our history. The KORG was our band in a box. When we lacked a drummer or a bass guitar player, the KORG stepped in with its electronic chords and filled in the gap. It all had to be programmed -- so if we planned on a song being done twice, it was done twice and it was over. No grace. No flexibility. Looking back, it was pretty funny, but it was all we had on many Sundays and it is now "vintage SunRidge."

Who can forget our first baptism? It was in the Fall, too cold for the lake. So we rented a hot-tub and it came complete with a Palm Tree and a banner that read "Flashbacks Cabaret." We rolled it up to the school entrance and our first few people made public their private decision to follow Christ. It was unique and unforgetable on so many levels.

Wanting to be more accessible, we moved to the Comfort Inn conference room near the highway. We moved there because we wanted to be more central on the westside. That worked out pretty good for a while. Sure, it was a hotel – it was different – but it wasn’t the building that defined us. There was a problem though: our music was sometimes a bit loud for the hotel guests. The manager said it was fine if we would stay but could we cut the music out of our program? That wouldn’t work. We had to find a new place to meet.

Then there was the idea that we should meet outside for the summer; outdoor services were held on Hudson School field. It didn’t rain a single Sunday; but the work to set that up and tear down every week was intense. Church is not defined by walls; if all that work meant that that someone met God in a unique way, it was all worth it. We met outside all summer; then we met a teacher who suggested we come to Mt . Boucherie Senior Secondary. We did just that. That is where we stayed for over three years. So many SunRidgers worked hard every week to pull off a Sunday: set-up crews, coffee teams, SunLand workers. Week after week, set-up and tear down. When people said, “when are you going to get a real church” they didn’t get it; a church isn't about a location, it's about people.

When rental costs surpassed a potential mortgage payment; we thought, "now is the time." And an opportunity presented itself for us to purchase the Old Butterfly World Building on the corner of Westlake and Stevens.

SunRidgers all pulled together. We put up the walls. We painted the doors. We wired the lights. We built the stage. The equipment was brought in and put in place. The offices were soon ready for work and the yard began to take shape. Other churches from Kelowna and from the Coast donated materials; and donors, some who have never even been here, supported us with financial gifts. A new chapter was about to begin but it meant all-nighters. It meant moving roadblocks. It meant doing and redoing the work in order to get it right.

It was tiring…but it was great at the same time! Slapping paint on the walls with someone you are just getting to know. Peeling off wallpaper, putting bats of insulation in the walls, digging ditches in the rain all with people working towards a common goal. Pizza’s arrived out of nowhere, trays of delicious things showed up in time for coffee, we were muddy and scraped and sore and dusty and itchy and we were in it together.

On the day before the carpet was rolled out on the stage we wrote the names of people we know on the plywood (in fact, some of you reading this history -- your name may be under there). We wrote the names of people we are longing to see understand what it is like to have a friendship with God. We loved this place because we hoped that those people and more really would soften their hearts and get right with God.

SunRidge is now coming on to 10 years (Oct. 2007). Like anyone who is growing up, we have experienced the aches and pains of it all. We have learned a lot along the way, and we have much still to learn. Jesus continues to challenge us as we get some things right, and make mistakes along the way, and learn and grow...together...in community.

The history of SunRidge is still being written; you are invited to be a part of it.