When God calls

Four stories of building projects

One service that Church Growth Trust provides to evangelical churches and charities is assisting and advising with building projects. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) lays out six key steps when considering any kind of construction work, including preparation and briefing, concept design, spatial co-ordination, technical design, manufacturing and construction, and handover. Church Growth Trust (CGT) works closely with clients and occupying churches to ensure that building work is carried out to the highest possible standards. CGT has worked with many different churches through each stage of a building project. Here we share the stories of four of these projects.

Windmill Community Church, Wolverhampton

Ten years ago, Terry and Margaret Wilkes answered God’s calling and opened the doors of the Windmill Community Church in Wolverhampton. In 2018/19, they worked with CGT to restore a derelict church building in Finchfield and by 2020, an extension was needed. Later Terry spoke to the local authority and found a redundant youth centre in the Compton district that needed a great deal of work. Having received an unmistakeable call from God, Terry knew what to do next.

“God called us to plant three churches in Wolverhampton. The first was Finchfield and in July 2022, we secured a 100-year lease on the old Henwood youth centre. Working closely with Jonny Heaney, CGT’s wonderful architect, we have completely restored it and made it fit for purpose. There is now a fitted kitchen, toilets (including accessible ones) and window security shutters. We plan to resurface outside and construct a car park with accessible parking and we cannot wait to open in spring. We could not have achieved these projects without CGT. We know that God has a third plant in mind somewhere in Wolverhampton, but for now, we are concentrating on our new building reaching out into the community.”

Work inside Henwood Youth Centre

In Wood Green 18 years ago, Grace Baptist Church began to lease Alexandra Hall. Barry King was the pastor at that time. “The building is Victorian and served us well for many years. Originally, we hired it for training courses for church planters and evangelists, day conferences and joint prayer meetings. However, we wanted more flexibility with the building to accommodate other events such as toddler groups and a drop-in centre for local Albanian speakers. Our original plan involved adding a first floor residential flat and a ground floor extension. CGT obtained planning permission, but the costs were unfeasibly high. Jonny Heaney of CGT drew up a revised plan, taking out the flat and, bearing in mind that we were quite tight on space, giving us an extension with a new meeting room, kitchen and accessible toilet. We are delighted that it will be ready by spring this year.”

Wood Green is a vibrant mix both economically and socially. The London

Toddler group at Alexandra Hall, Wood Green

Borough of Haringey, of which it is a part is the most ethnically and culturally diverse borough in Greater London. Green Lanes runs through it like a dividing line, with social deprivation increasing on the east side towards Tottenham while to the west it is more affluent.

Ryan King has been pastor of Grace Baptist Church for the past 10 years. “We want to serve our community,” he says. “Wood Green is densely populated, diverse in every way, and an area of significant deprivation. There are also between 150 and 300 languages represented in our local schools and there are real people with real problems all around us. Our Albanian community is growing and we are delighted to be able to use the hall for an Albanian language worship service every week. It is hoped that the new extension will help us serve more people and that together with other renovations, the building will be fit for purpose as we look to the future with God’s grace.”

Albanian language worship at Wood Green

Barry adds, “We have been delighted with CGT’s professionalism and Christian ethos. For them, it is not just bricks and mortar, but about the spiritual concern and interests of those with whom they work.”

Giles Arnold, Chief Executive at CGT, has been closely involved with the project. “At Wood Green, we were able to recommend the wonderful Christian builders from Romania with whom we worked at Roe Green Hall, Kingsbury and they did a marvellous job. As Barry and Ryan have said, the planning took longer than expected, but the additional time allowed us to reconsider our priorities. We focussed on building an extension at the back to create a muchneeded extra meeting room. As with so many things, we could see God working all things together for good.” area and new internal stairs to the gallery has made a huge difference and are really benefiting the church.”

Potter’s House Church has occupied CGT’s Coleman Street Chapel in Southend since 2015. When the church moved in from another of CGT’s buildings, they installed a temporary accessible ramp for disabled access. However, as Jonny Heaney notes, more work needed to be done to make the building fit for purpose.

“There were several challenges with this building. Located on a residential street near the town centre, space was tight. We had to design a dog-leg ramp to meet Building Regulations. We also had to work out a way to construct a new staircase up to the gallery, as the old one was very narrow and went outside! We wanted to transform the entrance and add an accessible WC at the front. The glass door, larger welcome

New entrance at Southend

Steve Gabriel was the pastor at Potter’s House Southend while the work was going on. “Our first idea was to put offices in the gallery on the first floor. The original architect and structural engineer advised us that steel supports and new foundations would be needed, causing estimates to soar in price. We decided not to go ahead with the offices and when Jonny came on board, he was extremely helpful and kept on top of everything. He never cut corners, had a keen eye for detail and kept the contractors on their toes. Our church doors were black, rather forbidding and looked as though they came from a workhouse. Now we have attractive glass doors with modern handles and an accessible WC at the front of the building. Having a modern, accessible building really is a feather in our cap. When a wheelchair user visits the church, we do not have to worry about their safety or our compliance. The chapel has been transformed.”

New Life Church in Emerson Park began to rent their building from CGT in 2016 and, like Potter’s House, are on a residential estate. Post-pandemic, team leaders Ernest and Wola Akwenuke have been delighted to see their attendance on Sundays grow to around 20 most weeks. CGT has just completed a refurbishment of their hall.

Emerson Park Evangelical Church, Hornchurch - old frontage

Emerson Park Evangelical Church, Hornchurch - new frontage

“The building looked shabby and uninviting and since it faced out on to the main road, we wanted to make sure that passers-by would find it more attractive and welcoming. CGT set up a new lease with us and organised all the work to the building last year. We now use the space for children’s work, mental health support, tutoring and our neighbourhood chaplains’ programme. The brief was to make the space clean, welcoming and attractive. So, CGT added a new door to the entrance, double-glazed dark-grey framed windows, painted the exterior in a fresh off-white, replaced the old fascias and soffits with white uPVC and laid new vinyl flooring in the WC and kitchen. Since then, we have received emails from local churches remarking on the transformation, we have watched people walk past and stare, and we have been approached by groups wanting to hire it. We are praying through what we can offer and how we can open doors into our community.”

Working with Jonny and CGT has been an entirely positive experience for Ernest and Wola.

“We could not have asked for a better partner than CGT. Jonny gave us such helpful advice and explained everything as we went along. His professionalism and expertise were invaluable. The contractor discovered that our electrics were in a poor state, and they now meet the current regulations. We know that our building looks attractive, inviting and is safe and compliant. We run a children’s play and craft day, we are getting to know parents and families in our neighbourhood and answering when God calls.”

Giles Arnold again, “At Emerson Park, we were able to put Ernest in touch with our partners at Counties and Partnership to help them grow as a church. We applied for two grants to help with the costs of the work and obtained the Charity Commission’s approval to use funds from another Trust to pay most of the costs. We are delighted that the building is more attractive and welcoming, which is benefiting the work of the church. To see the congregation growing and hear that the community is engaging so much more with the church is wonderful.”

Church Growth Trust is all about safeguarding buildings for Gospel use in the future and making them fit for their Godgiven purposes. CGT loves to see healthy, growing churches sharing the news of Jesus Christ with their communities, as all four of these churches are doing.

If your church is considering a building project of any kind, you may find CGT’s booklet “Your Guide to Church Growth Trust’s Architectural Services and RIBA Workstages” useful, as it helps you think through what would be involved in your project. It can be accessed on the CGT website, or you can request a paper copy by emailing enquiries@churchgrowth.org.uk.