Phase 2 - Building
Church members,
the PCC and, most importantly, God are all saying that the time is right to set
about fulfilling our vision and embark on the last phase of our building work.
Completing
this phase will enable us to meet the needs of our young people, give
new opportunities to get alongside the community and provides permanent
buildings that will serve St John’s well into the future.
Once again we are being called to step out in faith,
trusting God and responding with generosity.
Similar but Different!
There are differences with this phase of our plans from when we built the Church. We already have planning permission and two viable schemes, which is good news. This means that there will be less ‘bureaucracy’ involved this time. It means as soon as we have the money we need, given or pledged, we can begin. However, there are also bound to be some surprises and fresh challenges.
But the good news is that God has not changed! We must hold on to him again as we look to the next stage of our adventure together. Building the Church taught us to wait on God, to trust him and to see how he would lead us - we need to do all those things again!
Choosing Schemes and the Way Forward
This leaflet includes two schemes that would both meet our needs. However, no decision has been made about which of these to build. We need to listen to God and let our vision for how we use the space develop. There are practical issues about the schemes that still have to be fully considered and financial factors may yet influence us.
This is all part of the adventure of faith that God is calling us on as we go forward.
Why we must do something…
The Church was only ever the first part of our vision for our buildings. There are lots of reasons for fulfilling the vision…
• Children & Young People. They are so important to us but our present rooms are not satisfactory for them.
Ü The Portacabin - the temporary planning permission for this runs out in June. The Planners will not allow this to be extended indefinitely and are only supporting a further two years. If we don’t do something we shall have nowhere for our young people to meet.
Ü The Village Hall - two groups use this each Sunday, sometimes getting cold and wet walking there. The Hall has limited facilities and they have to carry all they need there and back each week.
The new rooms would provide a safe and flexible space on our site, including a purpose-built crèche.
• Flexible Rooms for All. Each of the proposed rooms is the size of the Waddington Lounge. Combining two into one larger room gives us a useful space, larger than the Lounge but not as big as the Hall. Access to the Kitchen via a hatch makes serving food or drinks easy.
• Use by the Community. Part of our new vision is ‘to serve the wider community’. Facilities in Walton are limited and this new space would offer opportunities to build links with local groups - already a local pre-school has indicated that they would be keen to re-locate to us, also providing a regular income.
• Larger Kitchen. Our kitchen is cramped and many fittings need replacing - the plans double its size.
• Foyer. ‘Scheme 1’ has a light and airy foyer which creates a valuable meeting area and draws our buildings together.
• ‘Equipping God’s People for God’s Purposes’. These facilities would provide a venue for events where not only the people of St John’s, but also the wider Church, can be equipped and built up.
Generosity is required!
Just as doing nothing is not an option, so building without the generosity of God’s people is impossible. Many have given generously to enable the Church to be built. Once again, we need to ask Church members to consider what they can give to enable our vision to be fulfilled.
What will it cost?
The cost of the work is between
£292,000 - £380,000
These costs are accurate at April 2007, though builder’s inflation is 6% per year. The range reflects the different schemes that could be built - the details which are laid out later in the leaflet.
We ask everyone to consider…
Ø Making a one-off donation on Gift day
Ø Making a pledge to give regularly for up to three years
If you are already pledging money for the Church, we are assuming that your new pledges will start when the old ones finishes.
Three Encouragements
Gift Aid
This is a significant help. Over 90% of our giving to the Church was ‘gift-aided’; assuming that this continues, it reduces the amount we need to give to between £238,000 and £310,000.
Charity Bank Loan
The Charity Bank has been impressed by the way people have fulfilled their pledges and that we have been able to re-pay the loan early. They have already indicated that we could borrow up to £200,000. This means that as soon as enough pledges are in place, we can start the work.
Grants
We should not put too much hope on this, given that Walton is a relatively well off area. However, the community aspect of our proposals does mean that we are hoping to receive more than we did for the Church.
Giving Away - to Smiles
God has blessed us enormously at St John’s and we want to continue our practice of encouraging everyone to give something to a Building Project in a poorer part of the world. In the past, we have helped to build churches in India and supported the new Church in Danesmoor. Now we have an opportunity to give to the new Church in Tileagd, in Romania.
The Smiles Foundation is well known to St John’s as we already support their work in and around Tileagd. God is blessing them and in June 2006 a group of people began to meet to worship together. At present, the ‘Tileagd Community Church’ is meeting in the local school. The congregation is now approaching 100. In October there was much rejoicing as they saw five people baptised who had recently been converted.
They are in danger of outgrowing the space in the school and the need for their own Church building is becoming more urgent. As you give to St John’s, please also support the Christians in Tileagd.
Time to Pray
Please make time to pray for the Gift Day,
and for discovering our way forward, a priority.
Pray on your own and join with others…
Tuesday Evenings in Church - 7:30-8:00pm
12 Hours of Prayer on Saturday 23rd June
- in Church with others at 9:00am,
1:00pm, 5:00pm & 8:30pm.
It would be great if everyone also signed up
for another half hour slot on the notice board
in Church. Pray at home,
in Church (open all day) or anywhere!
Costs & Schemes
At present, there are two possible schemes and we already have planning permission for both of them. The details are shown over the page.
As yet, no decision has been made as to which we shall build. It is probable that what we build will look like one of these but knowing the way projects like this develop, it is also likely that something about the plans will change before the builders move on site!
Schemes 1 & 2 - what they have in common
Both schemes give us…
• 3 extra rooms (approximately the size of the Waddington Lounge) with two of them being able to open up into one larger room
• a kitchen that is twice as large and re-fitted
• a ‘utility room’, with a sink, for storing cleaning materials
Scheme 1 & 2 - the differences
There are two significant differences. Scheme 1 has…
• a foyer and an entrance lobby that joins up all of the buildings.
• an extra door into the Church. This provides a separate entrance for the Church and is necessary to avoid paying VAT. Its location might be changed if we can put the doors into the large side window.
The Costs
Scheme 1 - £380,000
Scheme 2 - £292,000
These costs are accurate at April 2007. Builder’s inflation is 6% per year.
What if we built Scheme 2, and then added the foyer? This would be possible but would probably be prohibitive on the grounds of cost as the price for building the foyer and lobby separately is £164,000.
Questions about Time
Q. When will decisions about the practical issues and the different schemes be made?
It’s hard to be precise. We need to speak with the architect about some practical issues, especially the possible location of the extra door in to the Church. We then need to ‘live with’, ‘mull over’ and ‘pray through’ the issues as a Church. The PCC have a morning together in October when they can give some extended thought to the issues. The outcome of the Gift Day and progress with grants may also influence our thinking. Maybe by the end of this year… time will tell!
Q. When will we start looking for grants?
After the Gift Day, once we can tell the Trusts and Charities how much money we have already.
Q. When could we start?
The earliest possible start date, if all the money needed was given or pledged, is Spring 2008.
Q. How long would the work take?
About six months.
Gift Day - Sunday 24th June
Gift Day Services
Celebrate God’s Grace and Generosity
at 9:00am & 10:30am Services
Preacher - Christopher Frith
Gift Day Lunch
Join us for a ‘Bring & Share’ Lunch
at 12:30pm in the Church Centre
All Welcome!
“My grace is sufficient
for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness”
2 Cor 12 : 9