In July 2014, the following letter was sent to all church members and regular users of the chapel buildings to seek their views on ways of improving the practicality, functionality and appearance of the buildings as we find them now.
As you may know the O.W.R. Chapel was originally built in 1854 and successive generations have added to, extended and modified the buildings over the years, to meet the needs of the church and community at that particular time.
Whilst it is fair to say the buildings we have inherited are not purpose-built for our needs today, there are many aspects which we treasure and wish to retain. However we also have to admit there are many features that are unsatisfactory and could be improved.
We asked for help to identify those features which our member and other users think need improvement, which should take priority and the best solutions to the issues identified. There may be minor alterations which have a high impact as well as larger projects.
The outcome of this consultation exercise is likely to be a list of projects which we as a church will then need to plan and fully cost before any work can begin.
As we begin this process we are conscious that God wants us to be good stewards of the buildings we have inherited and we are trusting God to help us to undertake this process and the ensuing work in the way He would want. Specifically we are asking God:-
- To help us all reach agreement on the best schemes to pursue; those which are good value and which will provide the most benefit to the church and our regular users.
- To provide whatever money we need, without reducing our current missionary support and other commitments.
- To help us complete the works we decide to tackle, quickly, safely and efficiently
Please join us in asking God to answer these prayers “above and beyond all we ask or think” - Ephesians 3:20
This initiative relates directly to that part of our vision statement which states – “Growth as a vibrant church with an attractive reputation, reaching out and serving the community.”
These are the questionnaire responses we received:
On Sunday 16th November the findings summarised in the documents above were presented back to our church, together with a Proposal of Outline Ideas. The next step is to now investigate these ideas further.