BUILDING REFURBISHMENT

Our building was opened in 1880 and has served the Church and community well for many years. Now,
however, it is old, tired and no longer fit for purpose. Having sought the Lord's leading, we believe it is right to
bring the building back into a fit condition for the people of God to meet in and from which to seek to reach out
with the gospel to our local community.

We are an FIEC church, in fellowship with local evangelical churches and working in a gospel partnership with
Dewsbury Evangelical Church (DEC). We serve a needy community in the heart of the old industrial West Riding
of Yorkshire. Amongst our plans is to take the gospel to the Moorside Estate (an area which gained national
attention with the kidnapping of Shannon Matthews and described by the Prime Minister as an example of
"broken Britain").

Our membership has grown from 11 to 18 in the last year and with the help of our friends at DEC we believe the
time is right for a major step forward in the work. We need a building able to support the work, rather than being
a hindrance to outreach as it is at the moment.

Our main room (pictured right) is of a good size and is very versatile for all types of meetings and children’s work.
We want to keep this and bring the rest of the building up to a similar standard and usefulness.

Amongst the work required to bring the building up to an acceptable level, we plan to provide:
• Toilet facilities, including disabled and baby changing (currently we have just one cubicle with no hot water).
• Disabled access to the building.
• Kitchen facilities with the ability to prepare and serve food on site.
• Replacement of windows.
• Re-roofing.
• Electrical rewiring and improving the AV system.
• Car parking space by covering the surroundings with Tarmac (currently we are limited to on road parking mostly in front of our neighbours homes).
• Exterior lighting and signage.

Our estimates show that this is likely to require finances of £200,000. For a small church with several members either unemployed or in low-paid employment or living on pensions this seems a very large sum of money. However we believe that when the Lord wills these things, He also provides the means; not least through the support of His people elsewhere. We therefore invite you to join with us in seeking to see these plans realised. We ask you to pray for our needs (both financial and spiritual as we seek to keep focused on Him) and to consider whether you could make a gift of any size to this project.

If you would like further information or to be kept updated on progress please contact us.
 
Derek Ventress; derek@staincliffebaptist.com  (Pastor)
Tim Toase;   tim@staincliffebaptist.com  (Building Project Coordinator)