New Building Project!

This video explains where we're up to and what is proposed - there is more detail further down the page.

Download this video as a PowerPoint presentation HERE

Building Project Update - from the Building Group

Some of you will be new to the church and won’t have followed the progress of this project over many years. Some of us still struggle to visualise what the new church will look like, and some may have forgotten why we are doing this. To help we have produced this update, we will refresh the displays in the Old church hall and hopefully have a presentation we can display on the projector before and after services.

Why are we rebuilding the church premises?

·  Firstly, and most importantly, to bring Glory to God

·  Parts of the buildings are in very poor condition despite numerous repairs

·  The heating, lighting, electrics and windows all need replacing

·  The rooms are not very flexible

·  The site is very poor for disabled access

·  We would like facilities which are flexible, comfortable and fit for a growing church

In every aspect of our lives we want to bring glory to our heavenly father, and the buildings we use to worship Him should reflect the love we feel for Him. We want our Church to be a bold and dynamic group of people who have a place of worship which says we love God and want to support the community in which he has placed us.

Jesus in us, our community and our world.

What is happening now

The work to prepare the memorial hall to become our temporary main worship area is well underway. New toilets, cupboards for storage and general decoration is well advanced. The builders will be on site until 14th June. After this date we will start to use the memorial hall for most things. If the church meeting approves the building work to start then the main church will be without power and gas from 21st June and we anticipate that work would start on site on or around the 5th July.

This means that we only have a few weeks left to do the last bits or sorting. Anything left behind in the church, old church hall, lounge and cupboards, balcony etc after the 26th June will be scrapped.

We are organising a couple of days when a skip will be available.

We suggest that stuff is sorted into three groups

1. MUST keep - We will allocate storage in new cupboards in Rockets or the loft

2. LIKE to keep - Suggesting people store some stuff in their homes e.g craft for RISE or small equipment

3. SCRAP - stuff to put in the skip

Please place all ‘SCRAP’ (labelled as such) in the old church hall so that anyone can help themselves prior to it being thrown in the skip.

Possible SKIP DAYS are 19th and 26th June - keep a look out for further notices.

Can we afford it?

Finances are a concern to us all but we do not believe we are being rash. We anticipate that the total project cost will remain around our original estimates. The Baptist Union Corporation loan is waiting for us to use. They are confident that we will succeed otherwise they would not have offered us the loan. Similarly the other loan with Stewardship is in place ready to go. Cornerstone is doing well, much better than we originally hoped. We owe a huge debt of thanks to Claire and all the volunteers for the amazing work they do in both raising funds and serving the community.

People are coming to know Jesus through our shop.

As pledges are coming in our fund has grown steadily. However, there are some who have promised to support the project who haven’t started yet and there will be some for whom this is all new but who would like to get on board. All are welcome to support the rebuild. We have benefitted from the faith and generosity of those before us. These buildings will not only serve God’s work now but also well into the future.

Please remember to gift aid as the tax back is significant! Please talk to anyone on the building group or the church council about gifts, pledges and gift aid forms.

Whilst we do not have all the money sitting in the bank we are confident that we can complete the project and pay off the loans. We have a great and generous God who wants us to succeed in the work he has planned for us. He is Jehovah Jireh, God the provider. None of us can take our wealth for granted and we all rely on God’s blessing in all our endeavours.

What God requires from us is to prayerfully consider the way forward, to continue to listen to His voice and to move on in faith. Let us enjoy the journey He is taking us on, praising Him for the wonderful and miraculous ways he provides. Let us grow in faith together and not be afraid

Psalm 138 vs 8

NICE IDEA - How do we get there?

Things are now happening quickly........

We have the tenders back from the builders. These are being scrutinised, amended and compared. We will then interview a couple of the companies and we should have final tender report and recommendation by May 13th. The building group will take this to the Church Council. If they accept the recommendation, the proposal to accept the tender and proceed with the rebuild will be put to the Church at the planned special church meeting on 27th May. Please be there, this is an exciting and important decision which only the Church can make .

We cannot give a final figure today but all this will be available for the church meeting. What I can say is that three of the five tenders are very close to each other and within the range we were expecting. What we get in terms of the new building , extra rooms, much better facilities, is good value for money.

If the Church agrees to proceed then work starts on or around 5th July. The plan is for the build to take approximately one year. In that time we will use the memorial hall and the two smaller rooms supported by the kitchen and upgraded toilets. Some activities may need to move off site and we will need to be innovative. We will continue to host the preschool and support all our other activities and maybe more!