Steve shared his perspective on vision for the re-ordering:

• The week of prayer in July 2009 highlighted that we were called to be a presence in the city of Nottingham, and that our commitment to our building makes a statement about our commitment to the city.
• Over the last two years our vision has been unfolding to be a church that reaches others for Christ by transformed lives, authentic community and growing disciples. Our building has a part to play in fulfilling this vision.
• The work of the PCC and the re-ordering team has been undertaken prayerfully, and the current proposal under discussion sets out thoughts as to how our building can be best used to support the vision we’re aiming for.

Steve invited Martyn to highlight the ‘domino’ effect of the re-ordering proposal: if we want to increase the space for toilets or kitchen, and we therefore want to re-order the balcony to create more space, we will then need to update the stairs and provide an additional means of escape. This means that we will need to install a lift.

Martyn outlined the challenges of re-ordering a listed building of this size. This includes

• gaining permission from various bodies including the diocese and English heritage
• work being undertaken by approved contractors
• use of appropriate materials such as breathable plaster and paint.

The scale of the building increases the costs, for example flooring including underlay and top surface is expensive for a significant area; and the anticipated use of the building means that we need to install appropriate equipment. For example in the kitchen we cannot install domestic equipment because it will wear out quickly.

These costs are on top of the basic requirement to re-wire the church and install new lighting and an appropriate security alarm.

Yes, the site has been seen as a whole, with a team working on each project. They were both commissioned by the PCC in July 2008.

Steve’s view is that the development of the whole site will need immense faith, and that he would like to lead us to build and develop our faith by first completing the re-ordering; then celebrate; and then with our faith built up, progress to tackle the greater challenge of the development of the site next to the church.

He compared the re-ordering project to climbing Cat’s Bell in the Lake District – a reasonably gentle climb; whilst the site development was more like climbing Ben Nevis – a more challenging and lengthy endeavour.

The budget for the proposed re-ordering is in the region of £660,000 inc VAT, in comparison to the budget for the new build which would be in the region of £3 – 3.5 million.

“Let’s chalk up a victory, increase our faith, and then move onto phase two.”

To take on the larger project, we need to give sacrificially, and at present we’re not doing that.

“We need a ‘God event’ to make the larger project possible.”

The re-ordering will create an environment where we can have confidence in the resources we have.

At present, whilst we have three to four conferences and meetings per year, there are some organisations who have viewed our facilities and found the toilet and kitchen facilities inadequate for their needs.

The re-ordering in its present proposal will allow dual use of the building – for example a mid-sized community or international café and PCC.

A re-ordered church will help us extend hospitality to the city:

• a place of quiet prayer and an offer to pray for people
• Globe café (in partnership with Friends International) to reach students for Christ
• Hosting exhibitions and arts performances
• Outreach in the Market Square and inviting people back to the church to find out more about Christ

We are thinking for the long term.

We need to accomplish this project first, before we can grow our faith to tackle the much greater project of the site development.

We don’t know the timescale for starting the new build, but we do know that we must attend to some of the remedial work for our building in the short term.

“If you put off taking your car to the garage to get a problem fixed, the bill will be bigger when you eventually do go because it’s got worse.”

The figures show the best estimate of what different elements are anticipated to cost. Some may come down as a result of competitive tendering, but in the whole, they are realistic figures we can work towards until we have more detailed plans.

Experts within the church believe this is an appropriate figure to provide AV for our church. This incorporates sound desk, screen, projection, and audio.

No – it won’t meet our needs for children’s and youth work, because the church isn’t big enough to do so. We are looking at options to meet these needs, and recognise that the current position is not ideal.

Our aspiration is to grow youth and children’s work, and that’s why we’ve appointed a youth and student leader, and a children’s and families leader.

Steve: “I had a sense when I arrived at St Nic’s that as a church we knew we had good youth and children’s work. I sense now that as a church we are coming alive, discovering our ministry … AND we’ve got great youth and children’s work.”

We have a great team working on this re-ordering, and we need to trust them to get on with it, and to release people in their gifts.

Yes. We are building strong links with the leadership of the Chinese church, and deepening our relationship with them. We have made a commitment to keep them updated with what we are doing. When we need to move out for the re-ordering work to be done, they will meet in the same place as us.

In the long-term, they are aiming to have their own property, and they have a building fund.

The current plan is to vacate on 1 January 2011, and move back in the autumn. The time between now and January will be spent in securing permissions, liaising with external authorities, and working up detailed plans.

We have £250,000 in the fund from the previous appeal. We will be writing to each person who contributed to the previous appeal, to remind them of how much they gave, and to ask their express permission to re-allocate their donation to the re-ordering.

Even if we get permission, we would not use all the money for the re-ordering – we will hold some back for the site development for professional fees eg feasibility studies.

We are aiming to launch the appeal before the summer holidays. We won’t need to have all the funds for the whole project by 1 January. Some elements can be paid upon completion, so this gives us a year to raise the funding.

The purpose of the meeting tonight and on 22 May is to test the temperature for the re-ordering. The outcome we’re seeking from these meetings is a green light to progress these proposals.