This morning I want to provide you with a short update about our building project. As you know, work started on site in September and has been ongoing. Before Christmas, the foundations for the building were completed. You will hopefully have seen photos of that. I also put together a short video with drone footage of the site. That is available on the church website if you haven’t already seen it.
Work restarted on Monday following the Christmas break. Through the week, more preparations were made for the steel structure to be erected. Some steel was delivered to the site before Christmas and if you drive past the site you’ll be able to see it. I plan to keep you informed as to when the steel is erected and I’ll also have photos when that happens too.
Generally speaking, the way that I keep you informed is through the church WhatsApp group. If you’re not in the WhatsApp group, please get in touch with me and I’ll add you to it. I’ve also put together a post on the website which tracks the progress of the project. It’s called The Story So Far and has photos of the work as it has progressed. It will be updated regularly so you might want to keep an eye on it.
I’m also delighted to be able to give you a very encouraging report about giving to the Building Fund. The Building Fund offering for December came to £13,213. £5440 was received via standing order or electronic donations. £7673 was received via cheque or cash. £100 was received following the use of the church hall for a private event.
I also need to mention that the Building Fund offering for November (which came to a total of £7317) included a donation of £435 in lieu of flowers for the late Mr Alex Fleck.
Overall, we have been really encouraged by giving to the project. Last Sunday a year ago, I provided you will a difficult update about the financial outlook of the project. In that update I reported that the Building Fund was only bringing in around £3000 a month. There has been a significant increase in giving to the project and at a root level, that is a sign that the Lord is at work in our church family.
Can I sincerely thank everyone who contributed to the project in 2022. I always say this but we never take contributions of any amount for granted. We thoroughly appreciate your support and generous giving in difficult economic days.
The final thing to mention in relation to the building project is the Gospel concert that I mentioned last week. You’ll remember that we’re organising a Male Voice Group for a Gospel concert in March and also our Easter services.
The Gospel concert is being organised by Muriel Ramsey. She is producing a CD and is holding a concert in the church hall on Friday 3rd March from 7.30pm. The Male Voice Group and Testify will also be taking part in the concert.
The offering on the night of the concert will go towards expenses for the production of the CD but the proceeds from the sale of the CD will go towards the building fund. You’ll have seen the graphic on the screens before the service with information about the concert. There are also posters dotted around our buildings with more information as well.
In light of that, let me encourage you to do two things. The first is to put Friday 3rd March in your diaries and to come along to the concert and to support Muriel.
The second is to men of the congregation. At the moment, we have one person signed up to be involved in the Male Voice Group. So at the moment it’s not a group, it’s a soloist.
Men, we need you to sign up and the deadline is next Sunday. And the deadline won’t be moved back because practices are going to start very soon. There are sign up sheets at all doors and we would really appreciate it if you could let us know if you’d like to be involved.
Pre-Covid there was great Male Voice Group within church and we would love to be able to do something similar again. The group will take part in the concert but the plan is that it will also take part in our Easter services. We’re trying to tie the two things together.
Overall then, the picture on the building project is very encouraging. Work is continuing on site and we are delighted with what is coming into the building fund on a monthly basis. We’re going to pray now that the Lord would continue to work in our church family and that our building project would be for His glory alone.
Let’s pray together.