Page 8 - Contact Spring 2019.indd

Celebration

At our morning services on 10th February we were reminded by Keith from John Chapter 20 that
our triune God is a God of mission. Part of our response as a congregation to this has been through
our 2018 building project, to develop our facilities in order to provide better opportunities for a range
of outreach and mission activities to take place. We were reminded that celebration is a key element
of the Christian life, both individually and together, and so it is important that we celebrate and give
thanks to God and all the others who have contributed so effectively to the successful completion of
this work. We received an update regarding the current financial situation, giving thanks also that we
reached our target of £650,000 by the end of 2018, without any decrease in our support for mission
and outreach. This has been possible through the dedicated and sacrificial giving of many members,
together with the very beneficial effects of interest-free loans, which have minimised the burden of
bank interest.

This graph outlines the progress made from 2016 to March 2019.

On our last gift day on Sunday 10th March 2019, £38,500 was received.

The overall financial situation following payment of the final contract cost is shown as 2019-1. As a
congregation, we wish to acknowledge with gratitude the excellent management of the project by all
concerned, which has resulted not only in a beautiful suite of facilities, but also a final cost close to
£1,430,000 – almost £100,000 below budget!

The yellow bars show the very beneficial effects of interest-free loans in reducing the bank loan
required from a much higher level, with the associated saving in interest charges, for which we are
also very grateful to all who have supported the project in this very practical way.