Our Heritage

Our church has been on this site for over 500 years. Our Open for You project raised over £200,000 to  reorder and to redecorate our church. Generations of believers have built and rebuilt; adapting the structure to enable us to share the Gospel effectively.

We are Celebrating

  • Each month we welcome hundreds of people into our church; on Sundays, at baptisms, weddings, funerals and community events.
  • We are nurturing the faith of around 50 children and teenagers each week..
  • Messy Church, Alpha Courses, weekly groups and clubs enable those outside our Sunday congregations to feel part of our church family.
  • Our outreach into the community is growing: Young People, ACT Food bank, street prayer cards, and many other initiatives.

Messy Church

But…we have a Challenge

We want to be able to give a warm welcome.
Our boilers are old and inefficient. The heating system can be made much more efficient in terms of both warmth and cost. We currently heat the whole church, even when we’re only using part of it.

We are planning:

  • To install new boilers – smart technology allowing us to maintain an ambient temperature throughout and boost the temperature of only the area we want to use.
  • To remove the pews – to allow installation of new efficient heating, saving 20% on our current heating bills.
  • For wheelchair users and parents with push chairs to be able to choose where they sit, rather than being at the back or in a corner.
  • For flexible seating – with the pews removed, the space in Church opens up. We will have comfortable seating that can be rearranged for services, social events, etc.

We want to be heard loud & clear

Our PA system is out of date and out of step with future requirements. We experience feedback and there are areas in church where it is difficult to hear. There is no means of projecting and displaying visual content so that everyone can see.

Here’s what we’re planning:

A completely new audio system.

  • Screens placed on pillars will enable us to show videos, display song words, prayers, notices, helping everyone in church to see what’s happening at the front (service sheets and hymn books will still be available).
  • We will be able to record services so that they can be saved onto DVD for those unable to come to church. DVDs could also be made available for those wishing to have a recording of special services e.g. baptisms, confirmations.

What will our church be like when we’ve made these changes?

Church is the people of God gathered together rather than the building in which we meet. We need a church that our grand-children will want to be part of.
We need a building that’s fit for the future, one that honours the past but is keen to look ahead.

We want to be a church where:

  • Prayer is vibrant, worship honours God and is the very
    best we can offer.
  • Our welcome is warm and inclusive.
  • What we do is relevant to the whole of our lives, and offers hope to those in the communities that surround us.

We want to be able to:

  • Extend the invitation of Jesus’ gospel of good news to everyone.
  • Provide contemporary and traditional forms of worship in a flexible, warm environment.
  • Investigate opportunities to use our church building to host other kinds of events.

But we need your help…

Plans are already well advanced with contractors to specify the new heating system and the audio-visual system.

All we need to do now is raise the money. We need:

  • Heating £100,000
  • Audio-visual £20,000

We can do this if we work together. You can help by:

  • Making a lump sum donation.
  • Committing to give weekly or monthly to the projects over 4 years.
  • Praying that the money will be found, and that we may truly be a church ‘fit for the future’.
  • Supporting as many of the planned fundraising events as you can.

Please consider supporting Fit for the Future by printing off and completing a Response form or by making an online donation.