Central -an update!

Alan on the desk!



It has been a while since I updated people on this blog about Central ,so here goes!

It has been  hugely busy since the Central openings. .Jude ,the manager of Central has been buying all kinds of equipment, mostly funded by very generous donations .
These include  a large desk for the entrance, chairs for downstairs and a whole host of other things we need to make the building work properly.

Jude told me this morning that there is still some stuff she needs to acquire but we are getting there and there is a sense of God's provision.

There has been huge interest in the building ,whenever the doors are open people wander in and if we are able we take time to show them around.
The overwhelming reaction is very positive though people wonder if it is really a church sometimes " because it doesn't look like a church" That gives a bit of an opportunity to talk about what is church is and the God we serve.

Other people who look around are potential  hirers who also love the building and we have many bookings without having ever put out any publicity at all (although we are turning our minds to that now)
It is a joy to meet people from charities and elsewhere who want to use Central and it is a great way of building relationships.

We ve already used the buildng for worship during Lent and indeed on Good Friday and Little Fishes our toddler group moved in last week and we are planning loads of other events and ministries there over the coming weeks and indeed years

So in summary a lot has been done , a lot of prayers have been answered but there is much still to do

you can read The Baptist Times websites take on Central here

The Community comes in !

Last week we had the civic opening and church opening of our Central building

Today we opened the doors to the wider community and hundreds of people came!

They represented a wide cross section of society, old and young ,people on holiday ,folk from other churches, people who had been married in the church many years ago, people who once worshipped with us and now worship elsewhere and a host of others.

We took the time to chat ,to show them around the building ,to share our vision with them

They were almost all enthusiastic about what they saw and one or  two even seemed overcome with emotion at the bright, welcoming and accessible building they were looking at for the first time.

A number of local musicians came and played either inside, or just outside. the building throughout the day and as usually happens the sound of music drew more people into the building

Today was mainly for adults tomorrow is mainly for children and we expect the day to be even busier. I am looking forward to it!

Central is open for business!

I feel full of joy this morning!

It is a lovely sunny day,I have a cup of good coffee in front of me as I write, but above all,,there is a powerful sense of passing a significant milestone when we had the Civic Opening of Central last night.

I thought it was a wonderful occasion shared with so many good people who had travelled the journey with us,who have endured the lows and can now enjoy the satisfaction that by the grace of God,this phase is complete.
The ribbon was cut by Anna and Elliot on the oldest and one of the youngest people in the church respectively signifying this is a church for all.
It was also great to have present many friends ,other Christian leaders in the town  and elsewhere ,who have been, and were again last night, incredibly supportive!

We were grateful for the opportunity to say a heartfelt thank you to the architect, the developers,the amazing young people from the 6th form college who all competed to design our logo.

I felt the collaboration was just a sign of good things to come
It was also wonderful to see Roger and Lesley Sutton and to get the chance to chat to them over a meal afterwards.

Roger spoke briefly but very powerfully about the fact that we wanted this building to be a place for the whole community especially the weak and vulnerable, and assuring The Mayor ,councillors,the local M.P. and everyone else  that we want to partner with them, as we seek to bless the community in which God has placed us.

 Loads of people ranging from church leaders, to people who worked for Shropshire Council, commented on how helpful the talk was. I have no doubt it will help as we seek to develop these relationships in the future

Both Roger and Adrian from the Heart of England Baptist Association prayed poweful prayers of blessing on church and community alike

So onto tonight when we have the church opening, as together,and I hope with incredible joy we celebrate all that God has done for us.

After that, it is all about being the church God has called us to be in the town centre and in our other building at Crowmoor.

Our vision has never been about  building  a building, it is about building community ,sharing Jesus love, and together with others ,building The Kingdom of God in this community!

Nearly there !

I have not blogged much in recent days as we have all been working very hard, to get the building open for the Civic Service on Friday and the Church Celebration this Saturday evening. We are excited that Roger Sutton is going to speak on both occasions and Lesley Sutton will also take part on the Saturday evening. They will be brilliant and the church weekend they led last year was not only helpful but formative as we planned the new building

There has been so much to do and Jude our Central building manager has been working flat out as have the rest of the team.

There have been exhibitions to prepare ,a race to get the sound and visual systems in before Friday, orders of service to plan and print and a 1000 other things to do ....but we are nearly there- I hope !
In it all there is a sense of thankfulness to God for the miracle of answered prayer.

As well as all this Susan and I have had the joy of welcoming Philip and Christina from the USA into our home. They are a great couple determined to pursue Gods call on their life,and it has been a pleasure to get reacquainted with them after 23 or so years since we first met, when we were all a lot younger!
Last night we got to reflecting on the past and we were excited to hear that the mission that happened way back in 1988 is still bearing fruit today.The ripples still go on!

The work continues at Central

I havent blogged about the new Central building recently
Of course a lot has been happening as we and indeed others in the local community have begun using the building.

This has meant that we have got ot get all kinds of policies and proceedures in place and think abot fire drills kitchen equipemnt and a hundred other things . Much of this work has fallen to Jude, though she has had a great deal of support from others including other local churches who have been kind enough to give us lots of good practical advice
. We are also looking forward enormously to the opening events planned for next month with Roger and Lesley Sutton.

The comments about Central  have been universally positive and the truth is we have an excellent new building ,the answere to the prayers of generations and a great facility to help us in our work and witness.

Yesterday we had our first communion service in Central at the start of Lent.
 A good number came and we used Lesley Sutton's meditation as well as some stuff from Eternal Echoes -Sally Colemans blog Sally's blog
It was a joy to celebrate communion together. So much has happened since we last did that in the town centre, and though the road to this day was not easy ,we have indeed been blessed.

Afterwards I had the pleasure of meeting Matt ,the gifted young man from the local 6th form college who designed our logo- He is a talented guy and is coming to our opening.

"The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy."

There are some days in the many years of my Christian life when I have felt overwhelmed by the love and faithfulness of God.
When it seems to me that what has happened is a direct answer to the prayers of many people, over many years, and that His grace has been poured out on undeserving people
Yesterday was one of those days!
The verse that came to mind again and again was from the psalms
"The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy."

Yesterday was handover day for the new building.
That means it  was the day when Central building was formally completed and passsed into the ownership of Shrewsbury Baptist Church.

It is the day when the electrics people and the alarm people and the developer explain how everything works.I was glad that Rob and Rob and Steve and Jude were there, because ,as those who know me well will testify, -I dont understand these things easily!

This process took a couple of hours until those who needed to understand everything did so.

I busied myself in that time taking photos and really just feeling a deep sense of gratitude to God and reflecting on the journey of the last few years, from the point where we had to leave the old building, because we were advised it was no longer safe ,through the warm welcome we received from the church at Crowmoor,to the uniting of the 2 churches for mission and becoming Shrewsbury Baptist Church ,until the reopening of our almost completely rebuilt town centre building "Central" yesterday (although the formal openings are in March)

It has been a painful,difficult and challenging journey but God is always faithful, even when we were weak and feeble. I certainly learned again the value of persevering

Anyway, once everyone was happy we shared a glass with Steve and John from the developers who have been amazingly helpful.

By a strange conincidence although Steve is not a church goer himself one of his ancestors helped carry Spurgeon's coffin at his funeral!

They then left us in the building and we were joined by some of our leadership team (sadly not all were able to come) and we prayed and gave thanks to God for His generosity and faithfulness

As I looked around the faces present I felt grateful for them all. Some have been with us just a short time and some for many years but the experience of not building a building, but building a new church, has birthed  in us what Hirsch call a sense of communitas "Community born through struggle "

I am especially grateful for the encouragement, the love and the support they have given to Steve and I- They are a gift from God

Now we move into a new phase in the life of our new church as we seek to go where God calls, to bless people, and to share the gospel in word and deed

I am looking forward to it!

A busy start to the new year

It has been a fairly hectic start to the new year. Got my sermon for Sunday finished and so this morning Steve and I met to discuss the leaders time away.
I am looking forward to this as we had a great time last year and it is always good to be away with great people discussing important things.
We have 3 priorities for this year they are

•  Discipleship (including prayer)
• Putting down even deeper roots in the community
• Children's and youth work

Our time together will be spent praying and planning around these topics and we are determined that our time at Shallowford House website here would not simply be a good time but will make a difference in Kingdom terms

Saw a version of our new logo for the Central building I will tell you a bit more about who designed it and the story behind it in another post.

A sneak preview

Anyway following that meeting there were chairs to carry down to the new building ready for the handover tomorrow
                                    

Having carried the chairs in and taken them upstairs in the lift , I enjoyed sitting in front of the large new window that looks out over the market hall in Shrewsbury and reflecting on just how good God is and on how far we have  travelled in the last year

                                           

Approaching the finishing post!

....or should that be the starting post!

The new building is very nearly ready for hand over
One of the things we are now able to do is to show people who have travelled the long journey with us around the building
This morning it was a joy to show some of the more senior people the Central building(hope they dont mind me calling them that!)
It was thrilling to see the positive reaction they all had
The developers have done an amazing job, and we are very excited about all the possibilities the new building opens up
Pictures below

The front door

the lift (not yet in use)

 
                                                        Toilet and shower

part of kitchen

 upstairs again!

 
                                                 From Claremont St

Ruth, Peter Roy Mary

                                     

Mary Portas -The High st

The churches I have served have both had a considerable presence on the High St or the town centre
We are passionate about connecting with people who live,work in ,or visit the town centre.
 I was therefore very interested to read Mary Portas view on the future of High St.It makes fascinating reading and good to see some creative thinking going on
It is up to our church and indeed other churches to rise to the challenge and opportunities
Mary Portas on the High st.

Latest photos- Central buiding

Kate Tebby from BBC  Radio Shropshire came to see the new building this morning and spoke to Jude and I about our vision and hopes for the new building.
If you are in the area I think it will be played on Sunday morning at some point
If you are in Torquay or Toronto it may be available online or on Listen Again.

Anyway while we were down at the building I took the opportunity to take some photos and here they are!

The entrance

The Stairs

Upstairs

Upstairs kitchen

Central -openings

I haven't been in the new building for a few days but do hope to have some more photos up before the end of the week
Our thoughts are now turning to the opening events
Although the building should be complete before the end of the month and in very limited use early next year ,the official openings will not be until March
Here are the details of the opening of our Central building



Three key dates to note:


Friday 16th March -


Civic Opening (invitation only)


Saturday 17th March -


Our Church Family Celebration


With Rev Roger Sutton of the Evangelical Alliance


speaking at both the above events.


Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th March -


Community Launch when the emphasis will be on


welcoming as many people from our town into the


building as possible, to share our vision with them.


Please commit these plans to God in prayer that His name will


have all the glory in everything that takes place in and through


Central.
 
 
On Monday night a group of us met to pray and then to plan these opening events and I think its fair to say that all the usual ingredients will be present music, celebration ,fun,some good preaching from Roger Sutton and food! Can't wait!

The last lap

Now we are on the last lap we didnt even have to put yellow jackets on today to l,ook round the building

One of the first of many ministries to go into the building will be Little Fishes our toddler group which for a few years has thrived in exile elsewhere in the centre of town
Today we therefore took several of their leaders around to see the new building .
I think it is fair to say they could see the improvement

A lot of fixtures and fittings are now in the building ready to be installed

 and even the giant lift is arriving later this week.

A lot of work has been done on the kitchens and though they are not quite ready ,a great deal of the equipment is now installed




                                              

Outside at the front the paving is being done

There is a rising sense of excitement as the project nears completion
I expect to spend quite a bit ot time in the next few weeks planning both the opening events and finalising future ministries

Progress-latest photos town centre building

Posts with photos of our new town centre building are consistently among those most viewed on this blog.
I guess people in the church or who were once in the church like to see what is going on and enjoy seeing  the progress
I couldnt go on site yesterday but Howard took these photos (which are much better than mine anyway!)

Photos Howard Robinson

Enjoy!