The top photo: My church. Opened 2010, newbuild, the previous old-fashioned traditional-design church on the same site having burned down, suspected arson (kids broke in to play, played with matches - wastebin - curtains - poof!). So the church claimed some insurance moneys and requested donations from the congregation, and our new modern church building, very flexible, was built. The tall part is the meeting room, next to it is front entrance with big lobby, offices to the left, and at back, another smaller (but still very big) meeting room used for children's activities. There's a fenced outdoor play area with grass and soft resin at the very back.
The second photo: the community centre, immediately adjacent to the church. This scruffy "temporary" building has been there decades. My church met in it about once a month while the old church was demolished and then the new one built - the main congregation meeting weekly with the usual congregation at a different, sister, church half a mile away. (You can see a sliver of the new church in the background.)
The community centre is on a large piece of land, with car parking, but has been neglected for over 6 maybe 8 years. Dilapidated, horribly overgrown, shrubs and small trees everywhere, building looking awful, rubbish abandoned underneath the building and out the back. Car park under 4" of compressed leaves.
We bought it! In one month, we raised £240,000 in donations and sealed the deal last week. Painters are already restoring the interior. A working bee which about 40 adult members of the congregation attended cleared the carpark of all the fallen leaves over the deserted years, all the three and shrub overgrowth, all the rubbish.... hard work, but lots of fun. Some parents brought their little kiddies, who helped with their tiny spades, or carried twigs to the skip (dumpster). There's another working bee this coming Saturday; that'll be outside too, but there may be some inside stuff as well, like cleaning the kitchen and sanitary facilities.
There's an 8 foot fence between the two parcels of land. Concrete posts, wire, and topped by several strands of barbed wire. Think that may be down in part this weekend, too.
Eventually, the community centre will be demolished and the church, with its graceful lines, will be fully extended into the site, providing a larger church meeting hall, and more offices/smaller space, particularly for the youth activities.
It's been wonderful over the last decade+ to see this community transformed. The feral youths have grown up, and are better young men for it, having learned discipline and decent manners at the church. Lonely single parents can meet others at Mums & Toddlers. Other single people can come to a free lunch on Wednesdays, with activities before and after the lunch. There's a youth club on Friday nights, where, among other things, table tennis is a popular activity (and one that teaches kids discipline and rules). There's at least one event at the church every day. All sorts of people on the surrounding housing estate see us as a place to get help and comfort.
So - it's going to be exciting seeing the difference over the next decade, when the permanent building is erected and we can continue to glorify God in our service and expand our offering to the community.
Please pray, if you're the praying sort, for the ongoing work and then the outreach.
We have an architect in our congregation. I don't know if he will be doing the design (quite likely) but he will be overseeing and helping smooth out any planning objections when planning permission is applied for. I have seen some draft sketches, but they're only sketches at this stage.
I'm guessing it'll be next year at least before we're breaking ground on this new venture. We'll have to raise the money (or most of it) for the building works first. But the ££ will be there when it's needed.
Meantime, the Youth minister is already hatching plans and can't wait to get in there.
We will also be housing a Foodbank, much needed in this area. It would be good if we can re-start Homework Club, much better for kids than trying to do homework on the end of the ironing board or in the room they share with two noisy siblings. The Debt Advice centre [Christians Against Poverty - CAP] or the Credit Union might come back. I am going to suggest Repair Cafe does a session once a month, too (that'd be new).
How tremendous, Twinky! In my prayers for you and your community. YOU matter to that community, I'm confident your impact on your church community is immense (in a wonderful way).
There's another work party tomorrow (Saturday) with a view to cleaning the inside of this tatty old building. The idea is to do "warm space" in here, and bring it back into community use. (However the actual church building next door is fully heated, so why move to this horrible temporary building for Warm Space?) Anyway, it will be good to get the community back into going to the building for something.
And the work party will be good. Hopefully some members of the wider community will come and help, not just church members. Working together will build links, too.
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Twinky
The top photo: My church. Opened 2010, newbuild, the previous old-fashioned traditional-design church on the same site having burned down, suspected arson (kids broke in to play, played with matches - wastebin - curtains - poof!). So the church claimed some insurance moneys and requested donations from the congregation, and our new modern church building, very flexible, was built. The tall part is the meeting room, next to it is front entrance with big lobby, offices to the left, and at back, another smaller (but still very big) meeting room used for children's activities. There's a fenced outdoor play area with grass and soft resin at the very back.
The second photo: the community centre, immediately adjacent to the church. This scruffy "temporary" building has been there decades. My church met in it about once a month while the old church was demolished and then the new one built - the main congregation meeting weekly with the usual congregation at a different, sister, church half a mile away. (You can see a sliver of the new church in the background.)
The community centre is on a large piece of land, with car parking, but has been neglected for over 6 maybe 8 years. Dilapidated, horribly overgrown, shrubs and small trees everywhere, building looking awful, rubbish abandoned underneath the building and out the back. Car park under 4" of compressed leaves.
We bought it! In one month, we raised £240,000 in donations and sealed the deal last week. Painters are already restoring the interior. A working bee which about 40 adult members of the congregation attended cleared the carpark of all the fallen leaves over the deserted years, all the three and shrub overgrowth, all the rubbish.... hard work, but lots of fun. Some parents brought their little kiddies, who helped with their tiny spades, or carried twigs to the skip (dumpster). There's another working bee this coming Saturday; that'll be outside too, but there may be some inside stuff as well, like cleaning the kitchen and sanitary facilities.
There's an 8 foot fence between the two parcels of land. Concrete posts, wire, and topped by several strands of barbed wire. Think that may be down in part this weekend, too.
Eventually, the community centre will be demolished and the church, with its graceful lines, will be fully extended into the site, providing a larger church meeting hall, and more offices/smaller space, particularly for the youth activities.
It's been wonderful over the last decade+ to see this community transformed. The feral youths have grown up, and are better young men for it, having learned discipline and decent manners at the church. Lonely single parents can meet others at Mums & Toddlers. Other single people can come to a free lunch on Wednesdays, with activities before and after the lunch. There's a youth club on Friday nights, where, among other things, table tennis is a popular activity (and one that teaches kids discipline and rules). There's at least one event at the church every day. All sorts of people on the surrounding housing estate see us as a place to get help and comfort.
So - it's going to be exciting seeing the difference over the next decade, when the permanent building is erected and we can continue to glorify God in our service and expand our offering to the community.
Please pray, if you're the praying sort, for the ongoing work and then the outreach.
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WordWolf
Sure I'll pray for it. A church that reaches out to their community- I prefer those to the twi method of "Serve us and us only."
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T-Bone
will do - that's exciting Twinky !!!!
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Twinky
We have an architect in our congregation. I don't know if he will be doing the design (quite likely) but he will be overseeing and helping smooth out any planning objections when planning permission is applied for. I have seen some draft sketches, but they're only sketches at this stage.
I'm guessing it'll be next year at least before we're breaking ground on this new venture. We'll have to raise the money (or most of it) for the building works first. But the ££ will be there when it's needed.
Meantime, the Youth minister is already hatching plans and can't wait to get in there.
We will also be housing a Foodbank, much needed in this area. It would be good if we can re-start Homework Club, much better for kids than trying to do homework on the end of the ironing board or in the room they share with two noisy siblings. The Debt Advice centre [Christians Against Poverty - CAP] or the Credit Union might come back. I am going to suggest Repair Cafe does a session once a month, too (that'd be new).
We have big plans :) !!!!!!!!!
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Rocky
How tremendous, Twinky! In my prayers for you and your community. YOU matter to that community, I'm confident your impact on your church community is immense (in a wonderful way).
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Twinky
There's another work party tomorrow (Saturday) with a view to cleaning the inside of this tatty old building. The idea is to do "warm space" in here, and bring it back into community use. (However the actual church building next door is fully heated, so why move to this horrible temporary building for Warm Space?) Anyway, it will be good to get the community back into going to the building for something.
And the work party will be good. Hopefully some members of the wider community will come and help, not just church members. Working together will build links, too.
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