On Thursday 23rd June, I attended ‘Multiply’, a UK wide conference on church planting, whilst my colleague, Kathryn, oversaw the movers packing up our home from home at All Saints Church and moving us the 300m across Castle Park back into our refurbished space. Though a little ironic, that on the day we move back I’m hearing about what it may looks like for us to go once more, I can’t help but see the spiritual significance in this. If the last 6 months has taught this church family anything, it’s that we are Church even without a church. Yes, we are so blessed and grateful to have our beautiful building in such a central location. However, as we move back in, we must keep in our mind that anything (even our building) that draws our hearts focus away from Jesus is all but loss. The building is a gift from God to be used for His purposes, so lets keep our eyes on Jesus and ask Him what he wants us to use the building for.
The sectional completion, though coming four weeks later then planned due to the supply issues we have had with the floor (see previous posts), means that, though the outside of the building is still covered in scaffolding and work still continues, the interior has been handed back to us subject to ‘snagging’ and a twelve month defects period. And, no sooner than we were back we were straight back into Sunday church and Tower Tots.
Externally, the tern-coated stainless steel has been completed; the bright shine of the material will dull down to a ‘lead like’ patina in a couple of years time just as the aisles have that were laid back in 2018. The new galvanized gantry ladders and man-safe system have largely been completed with just a few finishing touches left to complete. These items were specified to ensure the overall package of works are compliant with the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015 which, are in place to ensure the health and safety of construction works.
The majority of the major masonry repairs have also been completed, though the extreme heat that we have been experiencing lately poses the masons a challenge. When temperatures are high, the cement in the mortar and render can dry too quickly and hinder a proper bond being made to the material as it is intended to. This is why you will see bits of fresh masonry often being wrapped up with pieces of damp hessian to keep them cool.
Following our most recent progress meeting, it was indicated that the scaffolding externally would likely start coming down at the beginning of August with a final completion and handover on 19th August.
