Giving back to the community has been a cornerstone for the South Delta Baptist Church since its humble beginnings back in the fall of 1959.
Now celebrating its 60th anniversary, the Tsawwassen church has been blessed beyond measure, says Paul Park, who has been at South Delta Baptist for six years, the last two as lead pastor.
To honour its past, the church is investing in the future and marking its milestone anniversary by aiming to raise in excess of $60,000 to support three initiatives.
The church held a recent fundraising/anniversary celebration at Tsawwassen Springs where past and present members came together.
“The event was tremendous,” says Park. “We had close to 300 people as well as a number of local dignitaries to celebrate together. Our goal was to raise $60,000, but between all the pledges and funds raised we have exceeded that mark, so we are very pleased.”
In anticipation of the milestone anniversary, Park and the church board discussed ideas to mark the occasion.
“Last year we started talking and wondering should we mark the 60th anniversary or should we just let it pass. We decided that it was biblical to really look back and give thanks to God for what we have received. We have been so blessed and we decided to give back and help others in need.”
Park says the church reached out to the City of Delta, Delta police and other community partners to brainstorm ideas and came up with three initiatives: the renovation of its youth and children’s facilities, partnering with the Delta School District on its Starfish Pack program, which brings meals to elementary schools, and partnering with the City of Delta on a tutoring program.
“Hundreds of children in B.C. go to school on Monday having had no food over the weekend. Starfish Pack was created in response to this need,” says Park. “We have recently learned that our community needs a program like this in some of our schools. We have already started this Starfish Pack program at South Park Elementary with 10 families. We’re waiting on Cliff Drive, working with Hawthorne in Ladner and waiting to hear from Beach Grove. Parents, students and school staff are coming to us, so we are delighted to hear that there is a need that we can fill.”
Park says it costs $525 to sponsor a child for one year of the program, which will provide a backpack each Friday throughout the school year filled with two breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners and some healthy snacks.
“The more money we raise, the more children we’ll be able to help. We hope to bring this program to every school that needs Starfish Pack,” he says.
The third project, a partnership with the City of Delta, provides free after-school tutoring.
“Our tutoring program will include trained tutors in the Orton-Gillingham approach, which has helped many children with dyslexia improve their literacy,” says Park. “This sort of tutoring is normally very expensive, so we’re excited to make this quality supplemental education accessible to children who experience learning challenges due to dyslexia and/or other learning disabilities.”
Park says the congregation was happy to see these initiatives come together.
“We’re thankful to live in this beautiful community of South Delta, and we count it a privilege that we have the opportunity to serve our community. It was nice to work together with the city, police, school district and come together to meet these needs.”
South Delta Baptist Church was originally planted from the seeds of folks at Ladner Baptist Church.
After the George Massey Tunnel opened in the spring of 1959 to usher in unprecedented growth, Ladner Baptist tasked five families who lived in Tsawwassen to start a church in the burgeoning community.
“Those five families and 28 people gathered on Oct. 25, 1959 at a beach house at one of the members’ homes,” says Park of that first service.
They continued to meet regularly in people’s homes before renting space in a school in Boundary Bay. Within three years the congregation grew so much it needed a permanent building.
In 1962, South Delta Baptist built its first building on 11A Avenue, which is no longer there. A decade later it expanded that structure in order to house 400 people in the auditorium. All the while the congregation continued to grow and in 1988 its current home on the 56th Street entrance to Tsawwassen opened.
The auditorium of the large brick church comfortably holds 1,200 people for Sunday services, funerals, weddings, graduations, and community concerts and events.
“We are thankful to be this community hub,” says Park. “We never want to be just on our own. We want to be a part of community life, contribute in a positive way, listen well and also speak our voice into the community too. We are thankful for the opportunity. We are thankful for not just the facilities, but the history we are inheriting as the young people of this church. I think we have made mistakes just like any organization, but we have also learned lots, we’ve been blessed by people who have led by good example, set the tone well.”
The current congregation is made up of 600 to 700 people.
“We have served hundreds of people, youth programs have been a tremendous success over the years and continue to be strong,” says Park. “We have a community dinner that serves close to a hundred people every month, so we’re very thankful to be continuing the legacy that was started in 1959 as a small, humble gathering of just five families to now, hundreds of people gathering together and continuing this legacy now with our particular way and investing in this future generation.”
