As I write our building plans and a small library of accompanying reports are being worked through... |
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Written by Mark Madavan
Tuesday, 24 April 2012 21:06
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 As I write our building plans and a small library of accompanying reports are being worked through and considered by Fareham Borough Council Planning Department. Part of this process requires them to write to neighbours, post bright notices on local lamp posts and to make the plans available for viewing on their web-site. This public notification is to ensure the community’s responses to our plans can be taken into consideration when the Planning Committee officially meets to decide on our application (we expect that to be late May, early June).
Please pray for our neighbours and the decision makers during this process - also feel free to register your comments about the plans by either writing directly to the Council or commenting online: https://www.fareham.gov.uk/council/departments/devcontrol/onlineplandetails.aspx
Our planning ref no is P/12/0120/FP
Every positive comment helps!
Other news: our first prayer walk around the field happened at the beginning of April – a bit cold, but an amazing occasion. April has also seen several of our children’s activities utilising the fact that we have an acre of space available right next to our present building. This is such an incredible gift from God!
Fund raising has also been busy in April: a community football match between the Pompey and Saints Legends raised almost £2,500 and a “Car Boot Challenge” is set to take place at the end of April. A huge thank you to all those who were involved. We have also announced our first official “Gift Day” for Sunday 20th May – we pray that this will be a significant step towards reaching our building fund target. (See separate article).
Please keep praying and being expectant of what God can do. |
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Written by Mark Madavan
Tuesday, 20 March 2012 19:11
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We have an awesome God! On the 8th March Hampshire County Council agreed to release an area of land near our church site, allowing us to regularly use it for parking. This is an incredible miracle of God – a solution that came from a very unexpected source and completely addresses an issue that would have made planning permission a challenge for Councillors to grant. God is amazing.
With this decision now made our planning application has been submitted to Fareham Borough Council to consider. As far as we can determine all of the major hurdles have been addressed, but the decision is not guaranteed. Please pray for the Councillors who will make the official decision and determine the conditions to attach to their decision – pray for God’s favour and generous hearts. (As soon as we know the specific date the Planning Committee will be meeting we will let the church know and call a day of prayer and fasting.)
Our next step, besides praying, is fund raising. There are lots of things people can do to be a part of this – check out our new Fund Raising Leaflet which contains ideas and events that you can be a part of – feel inspired to do something even more creative!
We are also planning on holding our first “Building Gift Day” in May – more information to follow soon.
Finally, remember to tell people why we are raising funds – yes to build a great building, but actually because we want to demonstrate the love of God to even more people in our community through the many activities that our church is involved in. It is not about a building, but our hearts. |
We have the field (yeah!) next - agree what to build! |
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Written by Mark Madavan
Monday, 27 February 2012 20:39
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We have the field (yeah!) next - agree what to build!
It was incredibly encouraging to welcome the church family and neighbours to view and comment on the plans – the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. The huge amount of work invested into the plans clearly paid off - surveying the entire congregation, interviewing staff and key activity leaders, drawing and re-drawing ideas, visiting a dozen different facilities, involving every key church leader as plans evolved – lots of people, lots of research, lots of work: a solid design.
Then on the 8th February 2012 the church meeting voted unanimously to submit the designs for formal planning permission. A defining moment of faith for our church.
During this time another key issue needed to be cracked – parking. The challenge was that we did not have enough spaces and there was no clear solution before us. Then God stepped in. Very positive conversations broke out between Fareham Borough Council and Hampshire County Council and an unbelievable solution was proposed – an official decision is due to be made on the 8th March – please pray! There will also be an upfront cost implication for the church – so pray harder! But if the decision is in our favour it is a clear miracle, for the parking problem will be permanently solved.
Please also pray for the planning application - we don’t as yet know the date when our application will go before the Planning Committee – a day of prayer and fasting will be called as soon as we know.
Finally - funding. We have a faith stretching target before us and it is one which we need everyone to wrestle with. Please pray, give, sell, tell people what has happened already through our church family, inspire them with what is to come, invite them to be a part of this amazing adventure and together we will see our community enriched with faith, hope and love. |
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"The church became the proud owners of a field! Praise God!" |
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Written by Mark Madavan
Sunday, 29 January 2012 18:41
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At 12:01pm on the 22nd Decenber 2011 the church became the proud owners of a field! Praise God!
On Wednesday the 4th Jamuary 2012 the fence began to be erected and a week later the field is ours to use at will – provided you don’t mind getting your feet rather muddy!
To mark this incredible step along our journey we have attached a huge “1st” sign on the fence. This is a marker to acknowledge God’s mighty first act along our journey towards a larger church community centre. It is also a reminder that it is only when we put ‘God first’ that mighty things happen. (It is also something that will provoke people to ask “Why is there a huge 1st sign on the fence?” – giving us all an opportunity to tell them what God has done!)
Owning the field now allows us to invite the wider church community and then the neighbours to view the plans. Once this has happened we will then submit an official planning application – and then we wait and pray! This is a crucial and essential step along the journey which much work and money has already been invested in, please keep praying.
We also need to more intentionall and seriously begin fund raising. Once planning is agreed the only thing that will be stopping us is money. We have a large amount to raise – please pray, give, speak to any funding contacts you may have connections with: grants, trusts, legacies, etc. For this mighty step of faith to be taken it will require us all to use what we have – little or large – for the glory of God. Please identify what you can give or do and offer them to God today. |
“The local community would not be the same without your church!” |
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Written by Mark Madavan
Wednesday, 23 November 2011 20:08
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“The local community would not be the same without your church!” were the incredible words a local Councillor enthused. We had invited a dozen Councillors to hear about our church and our vision to enlarge our facility. God’s favour was clear to see as the church staff team shared and Councillors voiced their support. It is a privilege to serve an awesome God with such a fantastic team.
We still have a way to go though. Our planning application will require a stack of reports addressing a pile of questions – but what an amazing start (especially as four of the Councillors were part of the Planning Committee.). One clear concern raised was the parking. As we enlarge our facility the pressure on parking spaces will inevitably increase. Unfortunately more land is not available, so our task it is form a travel plan that demonstrates our commitment to using St John’s school car park, share cars, walk, cycle – basically everything to reduce the impact on our neighbourhood. NOTE: If you are able, please use St John’s car park on Sundays as this will help prove we care about this challenge.
News on the land purchase is thin, at the time of writing this blog, the contracts are back with County solicitors. Apparently we are on the brink of being able to sign – however no one has yet defined how big the ‘brink’ is, so we continue to wait. We are trying to pressure solicitors to get this deal done before Christmas (doh – should have told them Christmas this year!). Keep praying.
The Cost – still a scary mountain to tackle. Thank you for all those who continue to chip away and contribute to this project. Please keep giving, ebaying, carboot selling, knitting, mowing, fixing, using ‘Pressing Needs’ (contact the church office for details), God has the power to do much with a little – even more with a lot! Please keep praying, giving and remembering this is not about a building but sharing God’s Heart with all around us. |
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