STILBAAI NEWS - Reverend Ronnie Cawood held a prayer meeting on Monday the 4 June with friends and congregation members on the building site of the United Church in Reservoir Avenue to 'Turn the Soil', celebrating a landmark point in the history of the church.

The Still Bay United Church initially started as a Methodist Church in Riversdale in 1980, where services were first conducted in the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

In 1991 services were extended to the Still Bay Bowling Club and in 2003 the DR Church hall on the eastern side of town was made available, which we are still currently utilising. In view of the inter-denominational congregation, the church unanimously voted in 2005 to become a United Church and the church building site was then purchased.

In 2007 Still Bay United Church was formally constituted as an Independent United Church, serving Stilbaai, Riversdale and Heidelberg.

Various fundraising events and projects were launched and with the generous donations received, the church managed to raise enough funds to see their dream come true.

The planning of the church building has been in process for the past three years and as stated by the building plan project leader Richard Peasey, "We are extremely excited that we have now reached the point where the actual building will now commence." Building operations started on Tuesday 5 June.

Reverend Cawood's address before 'Turning the Soil' was based on Psalm 127:1: "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders build in vain", emphasizing that we need to build on the rock which is the Word of God. In closing, he prayed that we must "trust in God's word as we build, so that the church may be the place of hope and healing and welcome".

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