A new Restore Community Church in Sterling has set its "grand opening" for Sunday, Oct. 25, and has specifically invited some 40,000 families in the broader Sterling area to attend by sending each an invitation by mail. The opening is set for 9:36 a.m. in the Countryside Regal Cinema off Route 7 between Countryside Blvd. and Cascades Parkway.
Over the last few weeks, Restore has been part of project "Replenish" to restock LINK, a multi-denominational Christian emergency food pantry for Sterling. Restore volunteers distributed some 1,200 grocery bags to area households on a recent Saturday and asked families to contribute nonperishable food to be collected the next Saturday. They collected more than 1,200 pounds of needed items.
LINK coordinators reported that the contributions came at a time when their shelves were nearly depleted. "Before you arrived here we were down to our last roll of toilet paper and last two rolls of paper towels" and that the food donations had replenished their stock to meet needs of the hungry families they serve.

PASTOR Ron Klabunde is leading the new church, which he says "has left the building" to reach out to the community. He and four teams of followers have literally staked out a wide area in eastern Loudoun to "mark" the "four corners" of the new church's boundaries.
"Our corners were comprised of the Loudoun County Public Schools Administration Building, our county hospital, a playground in a neighborhood, and a regional park," said Klabunde.
"Restore Community believes it’s time for the church to exit the building to unleash God’s generosity in the community and live Jesus’ mission. God’s resources are to be used to meet the needs of the people He loves," Klabunde added.
And in another promotional effort consistent with "leaving the building," Klabunde said the new Restore Community Church gave away $2,000 in $5 and $10 amounts at major intersections around Sterling last Saturday [Oct. 17] "to inspire extravagant generosity."
Those who received the money were asked to add whatever dollar amount they could to the gift received, identify a family in need, and meet that need "by unleashing their generosity." Restore’s Web site is carrying a running blog for those who participated to share their story of "extreme generosity," Klabunde added.
He selected the 9:36 a.m. service time at the Regal Theater "to help people remember it," he said.

KLABUNDE MOVED his family here early last year and took six months choosing a Northern Virginia area for establishing a new non-profit organization and church. They moved to Sterling that fall and "began an intensive community needs assessment," he said, interviewing more than 50 community leaders of all kinds.
"We determined that our best niche in the community was to start a non-profit to serve as a conduit of communication between other non-profits and NOVA residents who want to unleash their generosity," Klabunde added.
The new non-profit is NOVA: Generosity Can, established last February. Its Web site is www.enrichnova.com. In March, "I re-focused my attention on starting Restore Community Church out of the relationships in the community through the non-profit," said Klabunde.
"I deeply believe it is time for the church to leave the building and become actively involved in sharing God's extravagant love in the community," he said. "To ensure that Restore is never defined by the religiosity that comes with Sunday morning church services, I started the church by serving the community and unleashing generosity to a community in need."
He adds, "If we really love God, then we will love people because God loves people."
"This love will be expressed by meeting people's needs in practical ways."