Every Sunday we gather within the generosity of previous generations. The modern church they have built not only enables us to hold contemporary worship services, but also, easy and effective discipleship and outreach programs.
The time has come to do it again. To exercise our generosity and invest in creating spaces that will continue to support modern expressions of ministry for the good of our church and our community.
Just as we were blessed by the pervious generation, we get to bless the arising generation, we get to do it… for them!
It began with water
While we had been working on renovation plans for some time, the event that set everything off was the February floods. In that flooding we lost the use of four kid’s rooms, the church offices, and a kitchen due to extensive water damage. But instead of simply reinstating what we had, we wanted to Build Back Better and turn this challenge into an opportunity.
Through a process of consultation with ministry leaders and architects, we’ve developed cost effective rebuild plans that set the church up for the next 20 years of ministry growth. We’ve achieved this through a more efficient allocation of office space which has allowed us to increase available ministry space and improve its versatility.
Stage one: Ministry Centre
The first stage involves repartitioning some space in the ministry center to create two offices to accommodate staff in addition to the open plan office they presently work from. The four damaged classrooms will be redeveloped into two, increasing ministry capacity and versatility. As the kitchen will be gutted to remove contaminated silt trapped under the floor, we will need to reinstate this room too. But as our Café Kitchen now handles out cooking requirements, this room will be turned into a small meeting space.
In addition to the big plans, other quality of life improvements have been added as well. Through the addition of a wall, we have created a lobby from which each room can be accessed independently of the others and narrow the passageway through the Forest room to make it less disruptive. A large and centrally located storeroom has been created, while the rear toilet has been reconfigured to allow both the Pods and Sprouts rooms to access it.
We have also planned these spaces with safety in mind. High windows are planned for the wall that divides the Pods and Sprouts rooms and the What’s With room from the Lobby, this is to ensure that visibility is maintained without it being distracting. We are also better able to install CCTV cameras in these rooms due to the long sightlines within them.
Stage Two: classroom
While the final form of stage two is yet to be finalized (Transportable Classroom vs New Build), cost and zoning considerations means that the classroom is the most likely. In this plan, a 166m2 transportable classroom would be sited alongside the ministry center and would be accessed via a deck from between the ministry center lobby toilets (seen in the plans for ‘stage one’). This classroom has a divider that allows it to be used a two separate 70m2 rooms, or one large 140m2 hall. Additionally, it has a cloak bay that will be used as a separate foyer alongside a separate toilet block.
While this classroom will be primarily used for youth programs, as is true of all the ministry spaces we are planning, they will be designed to be mixed use; allowing programs of any age to operate from them, alongside possible community hireage.
Funding
To complete stages one and two, we will need to raise approximately $375k over current reserves. Considering the amount of work being done and the long-term benefit this will provide the church, we believe that this is both good value and highly achievable. Our first fundraising appeal is looking to raise the first $283,000. The table below shows how we can get there.
For the purpose of this giving table, a household can be a single person who is 18+, an empty nesting couple, a retiree etc. This means that the giving levels between households will vary considerably. This is why we’re asking you to identify what level on this table feels comfortable for your household, and then, to try and stretch to the next tier up. Remembering that your total giving can include both one off gift and an ongoing commitment. For example:
While your capacity to give a one off donation might be $2,500, an additional commitment of $50 per week (over and above your church tithes) would increase you total commitment across the next 12 months to $5,000.