The Vicar Writes....

For many years the people of ST John’s have longed for the redecoration of St John’s Church. They have worked and prayed patiently. They have given of their time, their skills and their money. They have done this gladly, believing that one day their dream will come true , and one day their prayers will be answered.

On Monday January 9th 2012 this dream began to come true. The redecoration and partial internal restoration of St John’s Church began.

This work will take nearly five months and should be completed by the end of May 2012. It will cost £93,100.89p . It will be differcult, disruptive and dangerous, and the most intrusive of all our restoration projects. So why are we doing it?

We are doing it first to strengthen the fellowship of believers at St John’s. If you worship in a depressing building, you become depressed. A redecorated church is a joy to be in, and strengthens the faith of its members. We are doing it secondly, as a witness to all who come to this house of prayer. We believe in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and we believe in God enough to spend time, energy and money on making this Church as good as we can. We offer to God the best we can, because we believe that he gives us all we have.

We are doing this for the next generation at St John’s. A restored and redecorated Church will be a blessing to them. They will not have to do this work again for a generation. They can reach out to the people of this community, they can engage with the people of this community, they can strengthen the faith of this community.

So please, may I ask you to pray for this redecoration work! Pray that those who do it may be safe. Pray that all who use this site may be safe during this work. Pray that we may raise the £40.760.29p we need to cover the remaining costs. Pray that we, and those who come after us, may use this restored church to share with many here the redeeming love of God, revealed to us in Jesus Christ.

With all good wishes

Yours sincerely,

Raymond Draper