Why are we doing this?

Behind the screens the new vestibule takes shape!

At AFC we are coming to the end of some significant building works.  The contractors have been on site since February and our weekday meetings have been held to the accompaniment of banging and drilling – so much so that I think most of us have got quite used to these ‘noises off’ and will perhaps miss them when they are gone!


It is the rear vestibule that has been re-designed and now includes a new cloakroom and kitchenette facilities.  Now the barriers have been taken down, the new lights installed and the repainting almost complete we are all beginning to get a sense of just how welcoming, modern and practical this new entrance space area will be.

Alongside all of this our fifty year old organ, which has never had a full M.O.T. is being rebuilt.  Some pipes have been cleaned in situ, some are being added (a ‘trumpet’ stop in memory of my predecessor Andrew) and lots of the internal wiring and mechanics are being upgraded. 


Of course none of this work comes cheap and together these projects will have cost around £120,000 – money raised by a very generous congregation.


But I suppose all of this begs a simple question: Why?  Why modernise the entrance vestibule and why rebuild an organ?  What do such actions say about us as a local community of faith?


Of course you could answer these questions with very reasonable practical responses.  But in this blog I would simply like to suggest we are doing all this work because we believe AFC has a future.  By God’s grace we dare to believe in that future and play our part in planning for it.  And in the days and years ahead we really do want our buildings to speak about ‘hospitality and welcome’ and for our organ to be have what it takes to lead us in both thoughtful and uplifting worship.


If we didn’t believe in such a future then we’d probably have left both projects on a list, at the bottom of the pile.  But the fact that we have talked about them for a long time, made sacrificial financial contributions towards them and then patiently worked around their implementation indicates something different – that we are looking forward to the future as a church and want, with God’s help, to play our part in making it as positive as possible.


With best wishes,

Ian