A PENTECOSTAL church in Port Hardy is poised to go where none has gone before: into the hotel business.

Inspired by the inner city Dream Center ministries established in the U.S. by Matthew and Tommy Barnett, and moved by the needs of the poor and hopeless in their north island community, the Port Hardy Christian Fellowship has been determined to nail down financing to buy the Thunderbird Hotel.

If they succeed, it will be a signal victory in a long spiritual campaign to reduce the ruination wrought on the community’s poor by its many bars.

The Thunderbird’s bar will be closed on the day the congregation takes over (though the vendor will likely relocate the beer and wine store which is also located in the hotel).

“Our membership really support the vision,” says pastor George Ewald. “The town is behind us 100 percent, and our district says we are the new prototype of the missional church.” The church is affiliated with the B.C. and Yukon district of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC).

The only hearts and minds left to win over are those of the PAOC pension fund directors  in Toronto, from whom financing is being sought.

“They finance new churches all the time – but never anything like this. We are going from 2,200 square feet to 34,000 square feet,” says Ewald, a 20-year resident of Port Hardy.

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The vision is to move the church into where the bar is now, operate two thirds of the rooms as a hotel, and lease the balance to a senior citizen’s society as a much-needed assisted living facility. They also plan to lease the restaurant, and use the profits to finance life-skills and work assistance programs for people on welfare, as well as spiritual ministries.

“It’s not about building cathedrals; it’s about building the kingdom,” says Ewald, explaining that the congregation is quite willing to support ministries of other churches.

April 2009