The Prairie Community Church is hosting a soup and pie fundraiser, Thursday, to help pay for repairs to its new location.

The event is taking place on Sept. 13 from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Herman Prior Centre. There will be different kinds of soup and desserts available for purchase by donation with funds going to repair the new church building that was purchased back in July.

“It was the church that was owned by the Portage Mennonite Church on Lorne Ave. and 13th St. They were closing and so we had an opportunity to purchase it. It all happened really fast,” said Judy Anderson, member of the Prairie Community Church and one of the organizers of the fundraiser. “We weren’t exactly prepared to step in, so now we need to step up.”

The church needs to make repairs to the furnace before they take possession on Oct. 1.

“There are some problems with lack of circulation, which was causing an odour in the church and the basement particularly. When they did the building inspection they found out that it needs another fresh air intake,” said Anderson. “There’s a few other things we’re going to want as well – it’s going to need a new roof at some point.”

The 25 member congregation has been operating out of the Portage Mall for the last 10 years. With the help of a new pastor who started on Mar. 1 they are looking forward to moving forwards.

“It is exciting because we’ve been in the mall for so long. It’s time we were in a church in a community. We’re really excited about that,” said Anderson.

Anderson added she would like to thank local businesses like McCains and Walmart for their donations in advance of the event. She also looks forward to getting more support from the community.

“It’s by donation so we’re looking just to get the community out and meet people in the community, and hopefully people will support what we’re doing at the same time,” said Anderson.