Community Meeting at Blaine City Hall

I was very pleased that a large number of people attended the community meeting that Chain of Lakes held last night at Blaine City Hall. The purpose of the gathering was to share information about our new church called Chain of Lakes, to share information about how we could see using in the future a piece of property which the Presbytery on our behalf has signed a conditional purchase agreement, and to answer questions. We mailed 1,200 letters about the meeting and were very happy about the large number of people that attended who live near the property.

I was also proud of the people from Chain of Lakes Church and the Property Purchase Task Force who helped organize and participated in the gathering.

We at Chain of Lakes Church want to be terrific neighbors to everyone living near this property and to everyone who lives in the Lakes and adjacent developments. Two of the Core Values of our new congregation are Hospitality and Acceptance. We want people living near this property to experience these Core Values as we live out our ministry and take care of the property.

Some of the questions that we received last night had to do with additional traffic that our new congregation could generate. This is a very understandable question and concern. We commissioned and paid for a traffic study to see if we would be hurting the neighborhood in terms of high traffic. Thankfully the study found that the church would generate less traffic compared to if this property was built out with residences. The only time the traffic would be more would be Sunday morning and even this additional traffic would not be significantly higher.

Any person who would like to a copy of this traffic study can call our office at 763-208-8049 or E-mail me personally at pastor@colpres.org

My family lives in Blaine, and we live near this property. I frequently run by the property. I have a personal interest in how it is developed.

Last night was a first start of a new relationship with many people. I look forward to a long and healthy relationship. Thanks to everyone who came to this community meeting.