RENOVATING AND RE-EQUIPPING THE
CHURCH AND PARISH CENTRE
With the Strategy completed, the PCC has reached the point at which it feels ready to begin the complete renovation and redecoration of both the church and the parish centre. It is our hope that funds can be found, both from our own reserves and from a variety of grants, to enable us to carry out a substantial programme of building works, in three phases:
Phase 1
This will be focused on our disabled access. See Heritage Festival
Phase 2
This will involve a total upgrade of the Parish Centre to make it a clean, comfortable and versatile resource for both the parish and the wider community. In particular, it will include the provision of a new kitchen, better storage facilities, and new community space. It will also involve a complete programme of redecoration and the replacement of the existing windows with high-quality double-glazing.
All of this work will be undertaken with a view to reducing energy loss and minimising environmental damage. It will also take account of the needs of the disabled and vulnerable. There are also a number of routine quinquennial repairs to be undertaken.
Phase 3
This will be focused on the church itself. It will involve installing a completely new scheme of lighting, replacing the wall hangings with bespoke boards to absorb sound and minimise echo, installing a permanent projector and screen (hidden from view, but easily accessible when needed), improving and redecorating the porch, and undertaking the complete repainting of the walls and ceiling, including the sanctuary.
This will be extremely expensive, but is deemed to be essential to enable the church to remain an attractive place of worship and a high-quality venue for concerts and exhibitions. It is hoped that the work can be carried out during the Autumn of 2021. It will involve extensive internal scaffolding.
Your involvement
A major scheme like this cannot succeed unless it has the involvement and support of both the congregation and the wider community. All of you are our ‘stakeholders’; you know and love the church, and you regularly use the parish centre.
Your commitment
Please make this project a focus of your prayer over the coming months. It is a big undertaking that will inevitably cause considerable disruption and require major expenditure. But it is the outcome of our strategic thinking over the past year, and we believe that when it is completed it will enable St Paul’s to continue to flourish as a place of worship and spiritual encounter, and as a much-loved community centre.
Fr Simon and Mthr Martha