St. Ambrose Building Campaign

St. Ambrose is a small Anglican church in the Village of Baysville in Muskoka within The Lake of Bays Parish. The church has been in existence since 1882 and our current building was completed in 1922. Today we need to renovate, repair and add to our church to inspire and enable ministries to meet the current needs of our growing congregation and community. The congregation made a much considered decision to raise money and to add to the historic church to provide the following:

This will require: water and sewer hook up to allow for washrooms and a small kitchen, the provision of space to allow our clergy to prepare for worship and to counsel parishioners and year-round heated space for assembly. We have received Diocesan approval to proceed. We have all required permits. We have raised the monies required to begin and have broken ground. We have an engineered plan, some significant donations of in-kind service and also, to date, attained 80.6% of our fund raising goal of $125,000 with commitments for another $14,000. The large thermometer sign up on the hill on Hwy # 117 in front of the church records the progress of the St Ambrose building fund committee in reaching its funding goal. A ceremonial groundbreaking was held on September 16, 2007 with Bishop Ronald Ferris in attendance. We have a very committed congregation both year round and seasonally. We have experienced some strong support, for which we are very grateful, from some Baysville area residents, Anglican and otherwise.

We have plans to move persistently to our end goal. Our goal is to see completion within the next two years. We are excited and energized to move forward to see a renovated Parish Hall connected to our much beloved current church.

Can you help? Your contribution towards this project will benefit not only the congregation of St. Ambrose, but the community of Baysville as a whole, as space will be available for community functions as needed. There are many ways to support The St Ambrose Building Campaign. Please consider one of the following.

** If you have a Hudson Bay Co. Rewards card and shop at ‘The Bay’, Zellers, Home Outfitters or Designer Depot, you can donate your accumulated reward points to St. Ambrose Building Fund. This will assist us to outfit the new office, kitchen and bathroom and has the potential to save us a great deal of money. You can transfer your points online at: www.hbc.com/community.

**Donate your skill and time or goods. We will need a great deal of donated service and goods as the building begins to take shape. Services required start with demolition, progress through all phases of construction and will end with decorating, organizing, purchasing and cleaning. We will need furniture, appliances, fixtures and kitchen, office and bathroom supplies. Please let us know if you can give us some time and/or what you see yourself contributing. All help/gifts will be gratefully received.

**Offer your time and assistance with our store in Baysville. ‘Rock Solid Giftware” on Bridge St. will be open Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. All proceeds will go to the Building Fund. The store offers a variety of giftware including: rock creations, quilts, garden whimsy and other home décor items. All staff are volunteers. Once we have scheduled a stable volunteer sales staff, they would value additional help on long weekends, during the “Walkabout” and “Art in the Park” Please call Shirley at 767-3616 or Margaret at 767-3410 to volunteer.

**Of course we are always enormously grateful for cash donations or monetary pledges. Any amount helps. Currently we have money, in the bank, already spent or pledged that represents 90.2 % of our fund raising goal. We have successfully approached Foundations. Working together this dream of ours will be realized. Please decide how you might help.

Committee members would be pleased to speak with you to discuss our building plans and the possibility of your donation. Donors will be recognized and tax receipts issued. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of this exciting project in our community.

Contact us at Box 71, Baysville, Ontario or call Margaret Morrison at 705-767-3410, Fax at 705-767-3578 or e-mail: margaret.morrison@sympatico.ca