South Street Purchase

FOR THE FUTURE AT OASIS CHURCH

SOUTH STREET

BACKGROUND

At the start of 2017, needing to move from our long term venue at Edgbaston Cricket Ground, we were stirred as a community to believe God for a permanent home within the year. An audacious and outrageous endeavour! We set out on an adventure of finding home and by December 2017, amazingly, God had provided a home; the unexpected home of an old Methodist church building on South Street, Harborne. It was definitely a ‘fixer upper’, and was in a part of the City we hadn’t gathered in before, but was clearly a moment of God providing what we had been looking for…albeit very different from what we’d expected!

H O M E

N D

N G

The building was owned by two private landlords who agreed to a competitive five year lease, allowing us the security to make much needed improvements and restoration.

Looking back now at the progress that's been made since 2017, it's phenomenal to see the difference!

G H O M E

As we settled into our new home, it was clear we had arrived in a building with an incredible history, but which was now a relatively blank canvas.

This allowed us to explore what it means to both build home and make home together

BUILDING HOME & MAKING HOME

In building home, we began to think through how to sensitively shape the building to practically facilitate gathering as a church family and reopening the doors to the community.

In making home, we started to develop the kind of home we wanted to be part of, marked by a culture of welcome, honouring, authenticity, creativity, justice & mercy, rest, joy and faith.

In 2020, as we were starting to get into the full swing of building and making home at South Street…the pandemic hit! We adapted the space from facilitating in person gatherings to broadcasting online, and learnt skills that now enable home to be home even for those who can’t be physically present

Months later, as we began to gather again, it reminded us that South Street is a gift for us both to enjoy and to share Opening home as we welcome others in, host new initiatives, and offer space to serve the local community became a top priority.

O P E N I N G H O M E

As we’ve continued to build, make, enjoy and open home at South Street, we’ve started to dream beyond our five year lease

What would it look like for us to own this incredible building?

The desire for ownership comes with two clear goals in mind: security and legacy.

As we’ve begun to talk to the landlords about the possibility of ownership, we’ve found them incredibly favourable towards Oasis, and incredibly encouraging of the difference they have seen us make in the building and surrounding area.

The security of owning the building would allow us to continue to shape it without the danger of finding ourselves homeless

LEGACY

SECURITY 01. 02.

The opportunity to build a legacy here is deeply exciting; freeing future generations from worrying about finding home and allowing them to spend time and resources sharing home with the surrounding community, the city, the nation and beyond!

Our discussions progressed, and we are now delighted to have been able to agree a sale price with them.

If we were looking with simply human eyes, it’s fair to say that a context of economic, political and global uncertainty isn't necessarily the ideal time to buy a building! And yet, it's clear that as we look to God, He is making a way forward to ownership that wouldn't be possible without Him.

OWNERSHIP

"BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD"

The story of our journey to South Street and all God has done amongst us here has been characterised by His invitation from Psalm 46:10 to “be still and know that I am God”.

This is another moment where we need to still ourselves, not trusting in our own abilities, strengths or resources, but resting in God.

Along with this encouragement, we are to be reminded of the story of Gideon, where God uses a small army of 300 to bring about a great victory. The point being, it’s exceptionally clear who has made a way and who gets the glory: God! The story of Oasis has always been one where it has only been possible because of God, and this seems like one of those moments again!

The future of South Street is therefore a tremendous opportunity for us to see God at work, and for us to partner with Him in all that He is wanting to do here This next section will lay out some of the detail of what it would look like for us to make the most of the opportunity to purchase the building.

OPPORTUNITY

SALE PRICE £750,000

We have agreed a sale price with the landlords of £750,000.

Given that they were initially looking for over £1 million, this already represents an incredible move of God!

SPECIAL

Initially, we will need to raise at least £225,000 for a mortgage deposit. In January 2023, we'll be inviting anyone who would like to stand with us financially on this faith adventure to pledge what they can give at a Special Offering

Without ruling out God doing something truly unbelievable and raising the entire sale price, we will then need a mortgage to complete the purchase. The table on the next page illustrates how our monthly repayments would compare to what we are currently spending on rent at a variety of mortgage amounts

The larger the deposit raised, the lower our monthly repayments, and the smaller the monthly increase we will need to cover our costs The table also shows how much that increase would be split equally between everyone who currently gives

VS MORTGAGE

PROPOSED LENDER: KINGDOM BANK

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K E Y

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IS THIS A GOOD DEAL IN THE CURRENT CLIMATE?

We think so! Were we to look for somewhere else instead, even relatively cheap, industrial warehouse style buildings, we would likely be looking at around £1 2 million to purchase and adapt for use. Disused church buildings in other parts of the city, with smaller footprints and requiring more work, have also been sold at similar prices in recent years

WHAT ABOUT A LONG-TERM LEASE INSTEAD?

A long term lease is a great plan B, but even at the current rate of rent it would mean over £100,000 going to the landlords, rather than into long term legacy, over the next five years.

The additional security of ownership would also allow us to invest more into making South Street 'home' in both the short and long term

IS THIS REALLY FEASABLE?

Absolutely! The finances are certainly a step of faith, but throughout our story God has always provided more than we could ask or imagine We're excited to see what He'll do this time!

The mortgage deal will also be subject to a full survey, ensuring we can accurately assess potential liabilities such as the roof within our planning. Owning the building also opens up additional income streams such as grants and room rental (more on this below).

WHY THIS LENDER?

As Kingdom Bank specialises in lending to churches, they are well placed to understand our unique situation. Typical income streams for a church look very different to the commercial sector and can act as a barrier for many high street lenders Particular advantages include taking into account congregational pledges when considering an application, no fees for early repayment, and provision for an interest only mortgage or a mortgage holiday in more extreme circumstances.

Kingdom Bank have been lending to churches for nearly 70 years it’s what they were set up to do and they have an in depth knowledge of the nuances of church income and activities, which makes them an ideal choice

HAVE WE CONSIDERED ANY OTHER LENDERS?

Stewardship are also a possible option to approach for a church specific mortgage A charity rather than a bank, they have been aiming ‘to release generous gifts and financial support to Christian Ministries in the UK and overseas’ for over 100 years.

Whilst offering many similar advantages to Kingdom Bank, they typically require a lower loan to value rate (meaning we would need a higher deposit for the same value mortgage), over a shorter term (meaning higher monthly repayments). Should God provide for a substantially bigger deposit though, we would consider Stewardship as an alternative, as they do offer a slightly lower interest rate

WHAT ARE OUR SOURCES OF INCOME?

Alongside regular giving and one off gifts, which form the bulk of our income, we are already beginning to utilise opportunities to rent out South Street in ways that both bring in income for the church and benefit the local community a good example being Schools Out, who run after school and holiday clubs in the Cadbury Hall. This is something we'll be able to expand after purchase; giving us more flexibility to tailor the building so that it can become a true Community Hub whilst also serving the needs of the church community

Purchasing the building will open up access to a range of grant opportunities, including English Heritage Grants, Conversation Grants, Community Grants (e.g. from big businesses), Council Grants to support listed buildings, and energy grants (potential for solar, air source heat pumps etc).

07 HOW WILL THE SPECIAL OFFERING WORK?

Anyone who would like to give financially will be able to make a pledge during a Special Offering in January 2023 this can be either in the room on a Sunday or online After this, we will then be in touch with everyone who has pledged by March with details on how to then give.

AN INVITATION

...TO BE PART OF THE ADVENTURE

So, that's the vision! It's a big vision, but an exciting one too Our invitation to you is to come and be part of this adventure through praying, through giving and through supporting.

...TO PRAY THAT GOD WOULD MAKE A WAY

This is a big step of faith for us as a community...but that's also what makes it exciting! Throughout the Bible, it seems to be the moments where people are most reliant on God that He does the most remarkable things That's certainly been our story over the past 23 years of Oasis, and therefore our first call in this moment is to pray.

We'll be dedicating lots of time to that as a community in the coming months, but it's also vital to call as many people to prayer as possible. This isn't something we can do alone, and if we do end up owning this amazing building, it's clear that all the credit will go to God!

...TO CONSIDER WHAT GOD IS CALLING YOU TO GIVE

We would also love to invite you give generously to this vision whether you're a current or former part of the Oasis community, a friend or relative, or just an interested observer! As always at Oasis, it's about the heart not the amount A little or a lot, if you are able to give, we would just be delighted to have you standing with us.

...TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS

If there's anything you'd like to discuss about this project, or any questions you'd like to ask, we would love to hear from you Please do email admin@theoasischurch.com and one of the team will get back to you or arrange a time to meet up to talk things through