Pastor Kevin Mullin outside the Emmanuel Pentecostal Fellowship Church building that was recently sold. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Planning for future

Emmanuel Pentecostal Fellowship Church building sold

Jul 5, 2021 | 3:15 PM

The Emmanuel Pentecostal Fellowship [EPF], the local Pentecostal church in the Battlefords, are looking forward to making plans for the future after selling their building in North Battleford.

The highest bid for the facility at 1231-104th Street sold in an auction at $86,000 June 25. The sale will be completed August 10.

Kevin Mullin, lead pastor of EPF, said the church organization was pleased with the outcome.

“We were really happy about that,” Mullin told battlefordsNOW. “We are looking forward to having a little bit to put towards our future endeavours as a church.”

“We were looking at downsizing in regards to the sheer size of the building,” he said. “We have been in the building since 1995. The building has served us well, but we’re looking at just getting into a building that better suits us and our needs. We’re looking at possible rentals right now, and hopefully long-term solutions of securing our own space somewhere in the Battlefords.”

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While EPF looks for a new location, the church will have services outdoors at Central Park over the summer on July 11 and 25 and August 8 and 22.

For the indoor services on the off-dates, the church group will meet after determining a location.

“Our long-term plans are to secure a location in the Battlefords, be it either through renting or purchasing, and just continue to minister and help out in our community,” Mullin said.

He said the EPF attempted to sell the building previously but did not have any success; that’s why they opted to go through the auction services instead.

“They tried to sell it over the past about a dozen years, and there was absolutely no interest. So we thought our best way to go about doing it was through Ritchie Bros. [Auctioneers],” Mullin said. “[They] very much kept in touch with us through the whole process. It was just a good experience for us as a leadership at Emmanuel Pentecostal Fellowship.”

The name of the purchaser, he said, remains confidential through the auction service provider.

The church has been located in the current site, at the former Convent of the Child Jesus School building, since moving there in 1995. Before that, the church was located at a site off the highway.

The facility was originally constructed in 1928 with additions made in the 1970s. The building size enabled the EPF to expand its sanctuary from a smaller, downstairs former classroom to the large gymnasium space upstairs. The EPF building was able to accommodate various church and community outreach programs and events, including providing classroom space for Equip, a program run by Living Sky School Division.

The church currently has about 85 to 100 members in its congregation.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow