Bricks and mortar

An increasing number of churches are faced with challenges on the state of their buildings and the need for expansion as the Lord blesses their ministry.

Many were built a century or more ago when there was a growth in church attendance. Our churches today are facing a new period of growth, that is, in the Bible-centred, gospel churches. We are engaged in new approaches to evangelism amongst the youth and adults. How do we respond to this opportunity?

This was the challenge facing Chertsey Street Baptist Church, a Grace Baptist church in Guildford. Having completed this project (that is, the rebuilding phase) and having experienced God’s blessing in this effort, there are lessons which may be worth sharing.

It had become increasingly clear over the last couple of decades that the building was not meeting the needs of the church, especially in its attempts to reach out into the neighbourhood. Indeed, we had been using a local school for some of the Sunday School classes and the youth work was being constrained by the accommodation. Other activities such as Mothers and Toddlers (now ‘Tiny Treasures’) were outgrowing the space and opportunities available. Evangelistic meals also required new, modern kitchen facilities.

In pursuing this project, the church used a number of key guiding principles.

God’s will

About five years ago, the church agreed with the elders that we should explore the possibility of a rebuild. As we analysed the situation, there were three clear possibilities: 1) a minimal project to provide disabled access, modern kitchens and some redecoration; 2) an extensive construction work providing a new hall with classrooms and offices and a complete rebuilding of the church auditorium; 3) the mid-way possibility to rebuild the hall and renovate the church.

When churches are faced with choices things can go wrong. It is only too possible for different people in the church to favour different options and so for friction and disunity to be caused in the congregation. Also a cause for some concern can be the amount of money involved. Is it right to spend this on ‘ourselves’ when there are great needs elsewhere. In our case it was also felt that the work should be done so as not to incur any debt for future generations of the church.

In order to resolve these kinds of problems, we obviously needed to know the Lord’s will. The elders proposed that the project and the budget should be set by the Lord. It was felt that this would be best achieved by a single gift day when gifts and pledges could be made (covering the following three years). We would take the response as the Lord’s decision and work to that. There was to be no pressure on members to give, each being free to give as the Lord moved them.

In preparation for this (and, indeed, throughout the whole project) time was spent in prayer seeking the Lord’s will. At the end of that gift day, the gifts and promises came exactly to the costing of one of the proposed options and this was taken as the Lord’s decision. No further discussion was necessary among the church on the alternatives as we felt the Lord had spoken. The building project team were to work on this option and to this budget figure.

This was an experience which encouraged the fellowship greatly and was an approach we would commend to others. The church was able to move unitedly from this point and this has been a continuing blessing. Because of some planning alterations and problems with the old chapel building, the cost did creep up, but the Lord always provided just the amount needed to cover these extra items.

God’s work

Even on the timescale envisaged at the time (and inevitably this increased as the work progressed!), we were concerned that the real work of the church should not be disrupted. Churches are charged with the task of holding out the word of life to lost sinners. We did not want the building project to distract us from our main purpose.

To this end, and to enable the elders to continue with the spiritual oversight of the church and its evangelism, the elders asked a retired member of the church, a former elder, to oversee the project on their behalf. A small Building Project Team was established to assist him, a group of people with relevant expertise.

Although it was not going to be easy, given the circumstances, it was decided that a Christianity Explored course would go ahead during the rebuild. At this time the church would be meeting in a local school.

All the church organisations were invited to submit their list of requirements to the building project team and these were collated and balanced. At each stage of the planning, all members were encouraged to comment on details and every comment was considered by the team. They passed recommendations to the elders for approval before any decision was implemented.

The property is in a conservation area and so there were some constraints on what could be done. It was agreed to demolish the single storey rear hall and rebuild it with two floors: a hall with kitchens and toilets downstairs and offices with classrooms, including a conference room and library, upstairs. Because of the conservation restrictions, it was necessary to excavate six foot into the chalk base (we are on the edge of an old chalk quarry) rather than going to a higher roof level.

The local conservation society and the neighbours readily accepted the proposals and work started in January 2004.

With a budget and a list of requirements, the team set about appointing an architect, surveyors, engineers and builders. As far as possible, we checked out projects undertaken by each before their contracts were signed. The architect had experience in church design, including evangelical churches, and showed a sensitivity to our needs as a church.

Continuously through the project we were made aware of the Lord indicating that this work was according to his purposes. Frequently the project leader was given cause to stand back and be amazed at the Lord’s provision.

We were also aware of the need to have a good testimony to those working on the site. This meant that there were opportunities throughout to share with the contractors and sub-contractors about the work of the church. The monthly site meetings with the builders, architect, surveyors and engineers was an enjoyable experience (even when some tough decisions had to be made) and a real friendship and respect was established. The builders reciprocated by always being prepared to go the ‘extra mile’ in order to ensure that a good job was done.

Building work can cause a lot of disruption to a local area and we prayed very much that the lorries, cranes and loads of bricks would not become a source of irritation to people living nearby. In fact the local people seemed to take a great interest in what was going on and many have stopped and commented on how much they like the changes.

God’s planning

Thinking about the project, it is clear that God has had the rebuild in mind for some time. Over the last 20 years a number of church members had become deeply involved in the life of the local school just about 100 yards away. A few years ago, with one of the church members being instrumental in what went on, the school rejoiced to have a new school hall built by the local authority. When we had to vacate the church building for our reconstruction we were able (with suitable financial arrangements) to use this brand new hall for our Sunday worship. It all worked out very well.

The buildings of the church are now better equipped for the work of the church in the community — activities taking place virtually every day. It will be possible to have concurrent meetings in separate parts of the building. With the aid of the modern technology installed, the services in the chapel can be relayed to any other room, as required.

Spiritual life

But, what of the spiritual life of the church during this time? During the 14 months of the building work, we have been very conscious of the Lord’s blessing. The work has given many opportunities to witness and we look forward to building on new contacts. For example, the church backs onto a multi-storey car park which serves as a major route to the shopping centre. The rebuilding work has opened up the church to the attention of local folk using this route.

The Lord blessed us in the relationship with the school and also within our fellowship. Our sister church, Guildford Park Church, was also a great help in providing daytime and evening accommodation during the week when the school couldn’t help. It has been a time of church growth, with a number of baptisms (services in the school playground using a large children’s pool!) and several folk have come into membership. A further baptismal service is planned shortly after five more confessed their faith in our Lord.

It is our prayer that the Lord will enable us to use the building to his glory and perhaps some of the lessons we learned may be useful to other fellowships.

Some lessons from a recent church construction project

God’s will

God’s work

God’s planning

Spiritual life

John Peet

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