The Story of Emerald House

How the BIC family converged to support a new work at Valley Chapel BIC.

“2023 is the year of multiplication for Valley Chapel.”

The words flashed into Pastor Sue Mathie’s mind. Her spirit quickened. No audible voice could be heard, but the depths of her soul recognized the voice of God speaking to her.

This holy encounter took place in April 2022 at the Great Lakes Conference annual meeting¹, but this message wasn’t shocking to her. God had been preparing her and the Valley Chapel congregation, for more than a year. However, even she couldn’t have dreamed up how God would use the BIC community to make the vision become a reality.

Developing the Dream

Sue has pastored Valley Chapel in East Canton, Ohio, for eight years. Just before the pandemic, the congregation launched an outreach to people experiencing homelessness. At a time when many aid organizations and ministries were limiting their services, Valley Chapel became an essential haven for many unhoused people in Canton, and it strengthened Sue’s existing desire to care for people in need.

For the next two years, she sought God’s guidance. “My gift as a leader is faith, prayer, and waiting on God,” she says. She continued to lead the congregation and homeless ministry, all while asking God, “what do you think? What should we do?”

And she has seen that waiting pay off.

The story is as intricate as it is miraculous. Throughout 2021, Isaiah 54:2-3 had become important to her and her husband Luke, popping up in multiple settings. The passage starts, “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back…” Dreams of expansion began to fill Sue’s imagination.

In 2022, the dreams started to become reality. First, was the encounter at Great Lakes annual meeting. Then – on an anniversary trip with Luke – the Lord said they would get a new building and should name it “Emerald House” because it will be a place of resurrection, new life, and hope.

Shortly after they returned from their trip, Luke sent her a building for sale just four minutes away from Valley Chapel, but in a more populated area. The 16 thousand square foot building was listed for $700,000. “With that price tag truthfully, I was not moved to quickly look at it,” she says with a chuckle. However, on New Years Day 2023, they visited the property. “From the first step in this building, I told Luke this is it!”

They had found their Emerald House.

The BIC Community Offers Practical Help

Sue was sure that it was the building God had for them, however, the skills needed to prepare for purchasing a large property like this do not come naturally to Sue. “I am not a financial person,” she readily admits. “I immediately called the Foundation to see how we as a church could purchase a building and if we could receive any help from the denomination.”

The BIC Foundation has been helping congregations like Valley Chapel expand their ministry footprint for decades, and they spent six months helping Valley Chapel prepare to purchase the building.

“It would have been challenging for Valley Chapel to obtain a loan for a property this large from a traditional lender,” says John Burns, now-retired loan officer who worked most closely with Sue. Together, they assessed Valley Chapel’s finances and built a realistic, workable budget for maintaining and paying off a new property.

“This is exactly why the BIC Foundation exists,” John says. “We want to provide the financial support our congregations need to carry out the mission God has for them.” After intensive preparations, Valley Chapel was able to procure a $463,680 loan from the Foundation for the property and renovations.

Others from the larger BIC community pitched in as well. Bishop Lynn Thrush of the Great Lakes Conference suggested contacting Chuck Sieber from The Meeting House in Carlisle, Pa. Chuck has extensive construction experience and is part of a team at The Meeting House that helps smaller congregations and church plants with building projects. He visited the new building prior to purchase to take stock of the repairs and renovations needed to make it a workable ministry center.

While all this preparatory work took place, the price of the property was cut nearly in half, and Emerald House was purchased for $375,000 on September 15, 2023.

Emerald House Today

In the spring of 2025, Emerald House hosted the Great Lakes Regional Conference annual meeting – the same event where three years prior God told Pastor Sue that multiplication was coming. It was a full-circle moment in a three-year journey.

Owning the building is just a steppingstone for the ministry vision in Sue’s heart. She wants Emerald House to be a “24/7/365 open spiritual house.” She hopes to eventually have some of the building zoned as a shelter to provide short-term and transitional housing. She knows more hands are needed to carry on the work, so Sue is dreaming up opportunities for Emerald House to also become a training ground for young ministers and missionaries.

For now, she’s focusing on updating the building and fostering local partnerships and outreach opportunities. Over the summer the owners of a local food truck helped her get the building’s commercial kitchen up to date, and this fall she is focused on launching weekend youth groups with the help of local college students. 

Whatever comes next for Emerald House, Sue will be waiting on God, prepared to serve her community however he directs.

1. Pastors from each of the seven regional conferences of BIC U.S. gather each spring for an annual meeting. At the meetings they share updates from congregations, conduct important business, and receive encouragement and training. ↩︎