1.
Introduction:
If
you are a regular visitor to the church, you will have noticed that phase one
of the church reordering project has been completed. That work involved the
removal of the pipe organ, the installation of two toilets, a newly raised bell
tower, a partly fitted new kitchen area and the installation of a new
electricity junction box.
The
work was completed in April 2019, within budget [£84,000] and we extend
a special thanks to Fred Turner whose vast experience in the field of
civil engineering ensured the tightest of controls were maintained on all the
technical issues associated with the phase 1 build.
Since
the completion of the first phase of the project, our Project Team have been working
on a whole range of new issues linked towards the start of the second and final
phase of the project.
That
work has involved looking at how we might raise the required finances to
complete the project, negotiate a number of changes to the original reordering plans,
which has necessitated the need for a new faculty, as well as seeking advice
and guidance on the complex issues surrounding the sale of church land and how
the proceeds from the sale may be used.
2.
Financial aspects of the project:
The
overall cost of the final phase of the project is £152,385.
We
have been fortunate in our fund-raising efforts to secure grant funding from
the Amey Community Fund of up to £65,000. Alongside successful grant
funding, there are other available funds to include monies acquired [£104,000]
from the sale of church land, as well as our own church funds, financial support
from the ‘Friends’ , and personal donations that collectively
provide us with the necessary finances to complete the project.
Through
the amazing generosity of many who worship at the church as well as the wider
community, along with grant funding and monies arising from the sale of church
land, we have managed to secure the funds required to complete the project in
its entirety.
We
extend our thanks to Arthur Savage who throughout the whole project has
exercised a high degree of financial professionalism and prudence in accounting
for all costs associated with the project.
3.
Sale of Church Land:
The sale of church land is a very complicated
process and has demanded a high degree of research and the gathering of legal
advice and guidance to ensure that the correct rules in relation to the sale of
church land are adhered to. Over the
past year the team has also been involved in the marketing and selling of
church land as well as the issues surrounding how on completion of a sale the
church is able to use the monies secured from the sale.
This has involved obtaining legal advice from Ely
Diocesan Board of Finance, especially in relation to the completion of a number
of formal resolutions involving the PCC, the Clergy and our Church Wardens.
The markets value for both plots of land,
provided by Qualified Surveyors [Carter Jonas] acting on behalf of the
PCC has exceed expectations and by the time you read this update, the sale of
one of the plots of land will have completed and the sale of the second plot
will be at an advanced stage of completion.
We are indebted to Patrick Combes who
during the whole process has lent his Chartered Surveyors experience in the detailed
negotiations leading to the sale of the plots of land.
4.
Use of monies from
land sale:
It is the churches intention to use the net sale
proceeds from the sale of two parcels of church land to help finance the
completion of the church reordering project.
Once the sale of church land has been completed
and the net sale proceeds invested, the Trustees [Revd Dr Simon Gill
& Church Wardens] will need to meet and formally vary the
restricted purpose originally created by way of a Section 275 Resolution.
In plain English a Section 275 of the Charities
Act 2011 is a formal resolution that replaces or amends the purposes of an
original resolution linked to a plot of land bequeathed to the church. The
Charity Trustees [Priest in Charge and Church Wardens] may if
they so wish change or modify the original purposes of a covenant providing a
number of specific conditions are meet.
This means that by a formal resolution the
Trustees [Revd Dr Simon Gill and our Church Wardens]
can modify or extend the interpretation of the original wording ‘maintenance
of the parish church’ to ‘maintenance, improvement and modification of
the parish church’
Such a change, if unopposed would allow the
church to use the proceeds from the sale of church land for purposes other than
‘maintenance of the parish church’. i.e. for the completion of the
church reordering [improvements and modification] project.
5.
Changes to the
original Church reordering plans:
Following a review of the project, the PCC agreed
to make a number of amendments to the original reordering plans. Those changes
involved a simplification in the initial design of the stairs leading to the
bell tower and the newly built mezzanine area.
It was also agreed that the partitioning wall to
be constructed between the newly built ground floor meeting room and main area
of the church be replaced with bi-fold doors providing much greater access and
flexibility in the use of the space.
Detailed discussions and negotiations have taken
place with our Architect [Whitworth Chartered Architects & Building
Surveyors] and the Builders [Lodge & Sons] seeking to
agree and finalise the particulars of the requirements associated with the
changes to the original plans.
There have also been discussions around timelines
for the start and completion of the final phase of the project. A new tender for the work has been received
and is currently being studied and discussed with the Architect.
6.
Submission of new
Faculty:
A faculty is a permissive right to undertake
works to a church building or its contents. It is the duty of the minister and
churchwardens to obtain a faculty before carrying out any significant
alterations in or outside of the church.
Having completed and agreed the relevant changes
and gained approval of those changes from the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC),
we are in the process of finalising a new faculty, which will be completed
online and forward to the Registrar for their approval. The new faculty will provide the Registrar
with details of the changes that have been made to the original plans as well as
an update on how the church will fund the remainder of the project.
7.
Phase 2 - Start
and completion dates:
The Project Team is now in the process of pulling
together all the various strands of work linked to the project.
We are hopeful that work will begin at the end of
this current year or early January 2021, with a completion by the end of
May 2021.
8.
The end is in
sight - Thank you!
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the
Project Team members for their tireless work getting us to where we are
today. We also thank everyone who through their remarkable generosity in their giving
and unwavering support have made the project possible. The end is in sight
Food for thought!!
“At its best, the church building is at the heart of the
community it serves, an enclosed space that has many uses. Primary among these
is the regular celebration of the eucharist and the daily prayer of the church.
But, in the hours when the church is not being used, the building is a
community resource for drama, music, children’s work, conferences, workshops,
retreats, etc. If the community is coming into the building, in my experience,
the worshipping life of that church is enriched and the numbers attending
worship grow.”
“If the church is to survive, she must be a living organic body
of people, dwelling in the communion of saints, active in the world, bringing
the love of Jesus to all, not locked in a reliquary of dry and dusty history.
As a trained architect I have a huge love of beautiful architecture and art,
but I would much rather worship God on the village green and have the community
share with me in the bread and the wine than do it on my own in a museum.”
John Howden
Priest in the
Anglo-Catholic tradition for 42 years
Church Times
September 2011
