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We are so excited that our exterior repair and painting project is moving so quickly!  

WHY DID WE UNDERTAKE THIS PROJECT?
Over the last few years, we’ve been noticing increasing damage to the siding and trim around the building, especially the street-facing front of the building. Not only did it look bad, we were worried about water or insect or animal damage getting into the building through the damaged siding.  

WHAT HAS BEEN DONE/WILL BE DONE?
Siding on the front faces of the building was removed and fresh cedar planks were installed. These areas had the most significant damage and we opted to fully replace the siding in those areas. Spot repairs to the siding were completed all around the building. Repairs to trim, corner pieces, and other areas are still ongoing.   After consultation, we settled on a fresh colour for both the trim and the body of the building. The new siding was primed in a white before the painters began adding cream and green paint to the whole building. Work is continuing to get to all the nooks and crannies of the building, to get the main stairs to the office area painted, and for all our doors to be painted.   We anticipate that the project’s final stages will take until mid-July.  

WHY GREEN?
St Stephen’s building has been brown for many generations. It has served us well. However, we became concerned that people no longer really see the building as they drive or walk by. Additionally, as our community has developed over the last few years, we no longer felt like brown was quite the right colour to express who we are. We are a vibrant, busy little multi-cultural community of Christians making a place of connection and relationship within our neighbourhood.   To better reflect who we are now and who we are becoming, we started looking at moving away from brown and towards a lighter colour. After several rounds of consultation we settled on the fresh, new sage-y green and a softer, creamier white for the trim. Change can be tough and we, too, are getting used to this lighter, brighter new colour!  

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT US?
St Stephen’s is an Anglican church in the Diocese of New Westminster. We are sustained through the gifts of our regular parishioners, visitors, and others. These gifts support our staff, ministry programs, and the maintenance of our building (parts of which are over 100 years old). For this particular project, we are deeply grateful to the Anglican Foundation and the Diocese of New Westminster for grants to support this work. We would also like to thank the leadership of St Catherine of Alexandria in Port Coquitlam, who provided a substantial gift to the parish (and visionary leadership in how to let ministry end without giving up our hope in the Gospel).

Despite the generosity of these grants and gifts, the parish needs to raise an additional $13,000 to complete the project.   As of June 19, 2022, we had raised $4,000 or 30% of that amount.

Donations can be made online (follow this link & click on the green “Give” button, select “Special Offering” and enter “building fund” in the notes field.). You can learn more about the costs of the exterior painting project here.