Metropolitan Bible Church

Met Bible Church
Basic information
Location Ottawa, ON
Canada
Geographic coordinates 45°19′53″N 75°42′9″W / 45.33139°N 75.70250°W / 45.33139; -75.70250
Affiliation Associated Gospel/Evangelical Fellowship
Architectural description
Architect(s) Ralph Vandenburgh, Parker Architects[1]
Completed 2008
Construction cost $13.5 Million (CDN)
Capacity 1,250[2]

Coordinates: 45°19′53″N 75°42′9″W / 45.33139°N 75.70250°W / 45.33139; -75.70250 Met Bible Church (also known as The MET), originally called the Metropolitan Tabernacle is a church located in Nepean, Ontario, Canada, at West Hunt Club Road & Prince of Wales Drive.

History

20th century: inception and growth

The MET originally started meeting in the Metropolitan Tabernacle in Huckell's Hall in Higgerty's Shoe Store on Bank Street. That meeting turned into a first gathering of 80 people on September 13, 1931 at 453 Bank Street.[2] The Bank street land was then purchased for $6,500.[3] The church building was built similarly to a movie theatre, so that it could be used as such if the church became unsuccessful. However, the church attendance rapidly grew, to the point that the building needed to expand. For this reason, the adjacent Esso was demolished and relocated to the other side of Bank Street, allowing the church to expand its size. The main and second floors of the new building included adult classes as well as the library, nursery and office rooms. The newly built basement included rooms for child and youth ministry, a gymnasium and a kitchen, as well as an elevator designed exclusively for accessibility purposes.

2000s: new building and relocation

By the new millennium, the church building was getting too small to accommodate its guests. For example, the Met held services at Carleton University for additional guests. Additionally, the youth ministry's night services were relocated to nearby churches and/or schools because women were gathering at the Met during the same time. The need for additional space prompted the church to seek a new building that it would build debt-free by using guest's general and earmarked donations. In June 2007, some volunteers started to help clear the eight acre piece of land for the new location. The new location was to be at Prince of Wales Drive & West Hunt Club Road. Up until the new church was built, church attendance was of 1800 guests meeting in various buildings.[2]

The last service at the Bank street location was on July 27, 2008.[3] It was replaced with condominiums, a Shoppers Drug Mart and a Starbucks. Almost all the building was demolished, although the front of the building was preserved for heritage purposes. This is similar to what was done to the Elgin Theatre after its closing.

2010s: expansion

Pastor Rick Reed left the church in November 2012 after 14 years of service. A future expansion is to add a 250 seat chapel to the location and increase the number of auditorium seats to 2100, bringing its size to that of a small megachurch . The chapel's purpose is to provide overflow seating while also allowing smaller events to take place there.[1]

Staff

Senior Pastors

The following Senior Pastors have served at The MET:[4]

References

  1. 1 2 "Met Bible Church". Parker Architects Inc. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Casey, Donna (July 2007). "Met gets spirited away" (PDF). Ottawa Sun. Ottawa. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
  3. 1 2 "Metropolitan Bible Church holds last service in old building". Ottawa Citizen. July 27, 2008. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
  4. ↑ McGregor, Anne (2000) "His Silver Cord of Faithfulness",
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