Joint venture

The Anglican diocese of Ottawa and the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada have made a conditional offer to purchase land for a new church to be built in the next three to five years.

“Unlike other ecumenical church developments where two congregations have been housed in a jointly owned building, a single congregation is envisioned for the Riverside South site,” reported Crosstalk, Ottawa’s diocesan newspaper. A joint Anglican-Lutheran committee has been created to map out plans for the proposed church.

The land is about 500 metres from a proposed bridge across the Rideau River, where the population is projected to reach between 50,000 to 200,000 people by 2020. The aim is to establish a church that would appeal not just to Anglicans and Lutherans but “seek the seekers.”

The committee will present its plans by July, when the purchase of the land, about $2 million, will be finalized. Lutherans already have their required amount of $1 million, while the diocese, which has only half of the amount, has launched a campaign to raise its share and to increase the total capital of its church extension fund by $2.5 million.