Now is the time for the “Build”

In the next few weeks and months, we will all become more and more familiar with the Church by the Bridge property refurbishment and expansion project. In the interest of protecting forests let’s call it “The Build”. 

Many of you will attend church this weekend and hear more about the Build. LIn February we will have meetings throughout the month to seek your financial commitment. The purpose of these meetings will be to convince you of the worthiness of the project and to win your “heart” support.

The other day someone asked me: “Why are we proposing to spend all this money on the church buildings?” I started to say that the fabric needed work, that we need to expand the number of seats and that the staff needed more space. He stopped me and asked me the question again. I had to pause and think more deeply about my answer. This time I said: “When someone walks past our church, they see a charming down at heel Anglican Church, some play equipment and a toilet block.  We want them to see an inviting entrance to our community which stirs in them the desire to know who we are.”

Our church is bursting at the seams. My wife asked me to visit the crèche the other day. It was packed with children in a small area.  We have fifty children attending Playtime by the Bridge. We have over 500 people occupying a seat in our church on the average weekend. We have a large ministry team inadequately housed, a senior pastor in a dark uninviting office, an assistant minister and church secretary sharing an office which is freezing in winter and stifling in summer.  In short, we are an active outgoing church whose buildings need immediate attention.

Those of us more closely involved with our architect know that the DA we received for the Link Building was above and beyond expectations and was granted largely because of the work that the council knows we are doing in the community. We are going to renovate, improve amenities, clean brickwork, paint, re-point and landscape. But we are also going to erect a new building that will be at the heart of the site and will considerably expand and restructure the usable space in the courtyard.

Like the ancient Jews returning to a broken down Jerusalem, there comes a time for re-construction.  We need your help in staffing sub committees, in raising money, in communicating with the congregations as we work on the site. We need your resources. As we move forward we need your prayers, your enthusiasm and commitment. We have built our church community. Now is the time for the “Build”.

Oliver Greeves
Warden