The dream of bringing a Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada ministry back to Yorkton became reality September 28 with the grand opening and dedication of the new Dream Centre on Myrtle Avenue.
“It’s very exciting to have our church back open again,” said Desiree Rennie, who runs the front desk at the centre. “I never thought that the Pentecostal Church would be open again in Yorkton.”
It had been a few years in the wilderness for the church, which shut down its location on Gladstone Avenue (now home to the Victory Church) when the pastor left in 2010.
In 2012, the Victory Church bought the building and the PAOC Saskatchewan District office put the money in trust for a possible reopening some day.
Enter Kevin and Rachelle Sawatsky in 2013. A plan was hatched that Kevin, then full-time pastor of LifePoint Church (LPC) in Lanigan would lead the replanting of PAOC in Yorkton. The Lanigan congregation gave its blessing in the form of a secret ballot in March of that year.
After a few false starts with regard to real estate, a deal was worked out to purchase and convert the warehouse on Myrtle.
Services started in February of this year, but renovations continued until just recently. In addition to the worship services the space has been set up to provide a play space for children dubbed Dreamland.
“Dreamland is our way of using the church during the week, that way we can reach other people not just on a typical Sunday service,” Rennie said. “It’s our way of connecting with the outside and to bring people in from the community.
The play space is not restricted to members of the church.
“It’s open to everyone,” Rennie continued, “It’s by donation, if anyone didn’t have the money to come and play they’re welcome to come, there’s no expectation for anyone to pay if they can’t.”
She said the average donation is $5 per child. Similarly, parents can book the space for a child’s birthday party, the average donation being approximately $100.
Regular Dreamland hours are Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; and Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Of course, for all its other amenities the facility is primarily a house of worship.
“Our main goal really is to connect people who don’t know the Lord to the Lord and to provide services in Yorkton that aren’t available,” Rennie said. “We have lots of plans that we’re going to be doing here, it’s not just Dream Centre, it isn’t going to just be Dreamland, we’re going to offer so many services, it’s just a matter of getting the funding and getting the volunteers.”
