St Christopher's church:
A SUMMARY OF THE CHURCH REBUILD

In November 2000, following a visit by the Bishop of Leicester during which he stated that the current church buildings had out-lived their useful life, a meeting of the church membership was called in order to gauge what their feeling was to this statement. The meeting was attended by Mike Edson and after much discussion it was unanimously agreed that a feasibility study be carried out, funded by the Diocese, to see whether it may be possible to erect a new building with social accommodation, meeting rooms, community usage, worship area, etc. on the present site.

The prime purpose of the study was to provide time for the parish to consider its future: theologically, pastorally, and socially and, from that, to decide the resources it requires, especially in buildings, to fulfil its chosen mission and ministry. Two key questions to be addressed were:

1. What are the specific tasks of the church in this area over the coming generation?
2. What buildings are needed to house those activities and how can they be acquired and maintained?

A feasibility study was carried out over the following twelve months and took the form of a survey, conducted in two parts: ‘The Church’ and ‘The Wider Parish’. St. Christopher's Mission Statement was redefined as the basis on which the study and the whole future of any project would be based.

All the data collected was brought together in a report form and then analysed within the scope and scale of the exercise, enabling us to draw up broad ideas, develop options and appraise them to identify those most suitable. After further local discussion a plan then emerged giving us a ‘preferred option’ to rebuild, based on the facts and findings from the study.

An interim report was produced, which identified the need for the church to prioritise the ‘needs’ of the proposed new building in terms of ‘must have’ and ‘desirable’ spaces or areas, such as a worship area, meeting lounges, hard area, kitchen, etc.

This information was then applied to a formula, to roughly identify the ‘footprint’ or ground area required for any development, which could encompass our building ‘needs’. The church members were then given the opportunity to produce their ‘design’ of where these spaces could fit together.

In 2002 we were well into the process and were beginning to tackle the difficult subject of funding the future rebuild. We had the full backing and support of the Diocese, who viewed our project as a ‘pilot scheme’ on which to base other schemes within the Diocese.

By 2004, drawings were well developed

However, our circumstances have now changed and our current plans are quite different!