"History is a
vision of God's creation on the move"
Arnold Toynbee
A Fairtrade Church
During 2008 the church, with the increasing maintenance costs of a building over 50 years old, potentially major expenditure looming, and insufficient space to meet its needs, asked its members and users what they wanted from the building. A strong message was given to us:
A building that is a 'Spiritual Beacon of Light' shining to all areas of Bracknell. A building structure that says unequivocally 'I am a Church'. Not hidden from sight, visible from all sides'
And so it was that the Vision 2009 Project was launched and with God's help we now persue an exciting time to redevelop our property.
Bracknell Methodist Church will be:
Learn more about our aims and what the new building will offer on our Objectives page.
During May 2011 work was carried out to add a new fire door to the worship area and pathways to connect this and the hall door to the front and rear of the building. These two doors will be the entrance to the church and hall during the main building work. This first stage of the development, the 'enabling' is now complete.
The tenders for the main work which was intended to commence in July were considerably over budget so we were unable to proceed as intended. The leadership team and architects have been considering alternatives to reduce the overall cost while still achieving our vision aims. Costings on what we feel is the way ahead are expected soon. A new planning application will be required, so building work is still a little way away.
It is now nearly three years since we first set out on our vision journey, and it has been set with trials and tribulations. But knowing that the Lord is guiding us all the way we are confident we will get there in the end. Here is a summary of our journey.
After discussing our ideas extensively both within the church and among its users a requirement definition for our new church was agreed. In April 2009 we appointed an architect to evaluate how best to achieve our aims and to produce plans for the new premises later in the year. On Saturday May 2nd that year we held a prayer day at the church giving all an opportunity to join us in praying for the project and any other concerns.
In September 2009 the architect had completed a feasibility study and the findings were presented to an open meeting at the church. A prayer day was then held for us all to reflect on the proposals, to be put to our Church Council at its October meeting.
Late in 2009 interest was expressed from the local Children's Centre for an extension to our building to act as a centre for local parents and young children. The building scheme was modified to include this, and it was seen as a very fitting use for our land. At the Church Council meeting on March 15th 2010 approval was given to progress the scheme to outline planning permission, and if approved to proceed with full planning permission for a build to start later in the year.
On April 12th 2010 Church Council agreed to proceed with the development with a timescale for completion of the first stage in Spring 2011. This consisted of the extension for the Children's Centre, improved kitchen and toilets and changes to the foyer area. The overall cost of the project was £900,000 of which the Children's Centre would be funding nearly half from a Government grant. A Prayer and Gift Day was held over Pentecost weekend, and we were all very excited that our vision was now starting to come to fruition.
But on 23rd August we were informed that the Bracknell Children's Centre grant from the Governenment had been cut by 60% (£1.1m) and hence it was impossible for them to fund a children's centre at the church. Naturally we were disappointed however we remained committed to the vision for the church, with enhancements for worship, pastoral support, community use and new outreach initiatives. We still had a strong will to enhance the building and provide improved meeting room facilities, better heating, enhanced kitchen, modernised toilets, etc. So the leadership team in conjunction with the architects worked on a redesign to meet our goals.
On 15th November 2010 a revised planning application was submitted to Bracknell Forest Borough Council. With the planning permission approved, in February 2011 Church Council voted unanimously to proceed with the development based on these new drawings. The architects prepared detailed drawings which were submitted to tender, with building work scheduled to begin in the summer of 2011.
But when the tenders came in we realised that the scheme was far outside what we could afford, so we had to go back to the drawing board.