Almost five years earlier, Newton Fellowship Baptist Church, under the leadership of Pastor Dave Jackson, had been approached by the B.C. Home Missions Board of the B.C. Fellowship Baptist Churches to consider planting a daughter church in the Guildford area of Surrey. Although not ready at that point to immediately plant the church, they accepted the challenge of preparing themselves to do so at a later time.
In a few short years, Newton grew strong enough to begin active planning towards the church plant. With some financial assistance from the Home Missions Board, they were able to hire an additional staff member with the goal of stabilizing the growth of their church. About a year after that, Newton was at the point where they were ready to hire the church planting pastor, again with the assistance of the Home Missions Board.
Pastor David Horita was called by Newton Fellowship in November of 1989 to become the church planter. If the church was to be planted by the target date of April, 1990, then the leadership and people who would form the core of the daughter church needed to make their decisions quickly.
Those who decided to join the new church as charter members were people who prayerfully considered their choice. They committed themselves to a church that would strive to reach the Guildford community for Jesus Christ through evangelism, small groups, contemporary worship, and personal involvement in ministry. They sacrificed the comfort of an established, growing church in order to form a new local church for the glory of God.
The next five months was a time of intense activity. Because Parkland desired to be an effective, stable church on its first Sunday, a lot of work had to be done. The Leadership Team began planning the detailed operation of the church, purchasing supplies, sound systems, chairs, a truck, and everything else that would be needed for a portable church. They also started the first Care group for the soon to be established church. The first service was held April 15, 1990, with many special guests in attendance.
It was exciting to see how the Holy Spirit had worked in the lives of people, enabling the birth of a new local church! But this was just the beginning. We have seen the gracious hand of God in many ways, and on many occasions. For example, when the planning for Parkland began, North Surrey High School seemed the best location for the ministry to begin. Unfortunately, it was not available on Sundays mornings, so instead, Parkland held its first services at Bonaccord Elementary School. However, a few months later the school administration decided that it did not want a church worshipping on its premises giving Parkland two weeks in which to find another location.
Feeling somewhat discouraged, the Leadership Team began seeking other places in which to hold our Sunday worship services. We praise God that in response to the prayers of the church, North Surrey High School became available the next week. We were at the school where we had first wanted to be! The timing of God is never wrong!
Within the next few years, Parkland grew from its original fifty-four attenders (adults and children) to over one-hundred and fifty on most Sunday mornings. In the same time period, we acquired our current 2.6 acres at the corner of 96th Avenue and 160th Street and renovated the existing building.
In the past two years we have grown to just over two hundred people and were beginning to run into some serious logistical problems due to the limitations of the building. In prayerful response to this, we have recently completed construction of a new 300 seat facility enabling more effective ministry in the Fleetwood - Guildford area of Surrey. Even more to the point, we desire to grow to an average attendance of about four hundred people so that we can begin a regular program of church planting.
Throughout our first decade, the story of Parkland Fellowship has repeatedly been the story of the faithfulness of God. We do not expect that it will be any different in our future.
We have continued to seek God's guidance and direction as we grow into a more and more effective representative for Him in our community. It seems likely that effectiveness in ministry will require innovation and risk on our part. Undoubtedly it will take a lot of prayer and a total reliance upon God. Philip Brooks once wrote that we ought to "pray not for crutches, but for wings."
Our desire for Parkland is that we would continue to trust God for truly great things, and anticipate that He will do them. We are enthralled by the awesomeness of our God, and know that He has much for us to do. As our Purpose Statement says, we truly want to worship God, and to draw people closer to Him. What greater task could we desire?