The church of St Andrew's was built in 1969 and is a building typical of that era but by today's standards the building looks very tired and outdated.

Unfortunately, due to the design and construction, the rood has leaked for many years and this has proved difficult to fix. The water damage has now seriously affected the fabric of the building to a point where it is beyond economic repair.

Leaking roof over the musician's corner

In addition to this, the existing building does not meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act to provide ramps and disabled facilities.

Under the vision and leadership of the current vicar and in consultation with our architect, it was decided that the only viable solution would be to demolish the existing building and replace it with a new, purpose built design.

Buckets collecting drips in the musicians corner

The Vision Is...

To create a new church complex that will serve the church, the school and the community of Furnace Green for many years to come.
To create a building that can be used every day of the week.
To create a building where multiple activities can occur simultaneously in different venues
To create a large worship auditorium that can also be used for school productions and concerts.
To provide a venue suitable for the young people and teenagers of Furnace Green.
To establish a café serving light refreshments that will be open daily.
To create a place where people can retreat for quiet reflection and prayer.
To support the school by offering facilities for breakfast clubs and after school clubs.
To create an attractive building that will complement the existing school buildings but stand out as being separate from them.
To create a new entrance from Weald Drive to improve access to the church and school

The Funding

It has been established that the building will cost £1,000,000 plus fees. Contrary to popular belief the Church of England is unable to fund this project.

So how will we raise the money? Some of the money may come from external sources, but the majority of the money will have to come from existing church members and those connected with St Andrews Church.

To see this vision become a reality we would welcome your donation in support of this important work in our community.

If you would like to contribute to this project please click the link below, print out and fill in the form, and either give it or post it to:

The Treasurer,

St Andrew's Church,

Weald Drive

Furnace Green

Crawley RH10 6NU.

For Gift Forms Click Here

Stop Press!!!!!!

PLANNING PERMISSION

We are delighted to announce that after nearly a year of seeking planning permission Crawley Borough Council have given us the go ahead to proceed.
The long delay was due to the building being situated on a floodplain and the Environment Agency’s objection to our building plans until further investigation had been carried out. Due to incidents of flooding being on the increase at the moment the Environment Agency have become much more involved in planning applications and need to ascertain the knock on flooding effect of any new building work.
Now permission has been granted the Building Team can proceed with our architect Trevor Tilley in the detail design and the Fundraising Team can proceed with finding sources of funding outside of the parish. Do please continue to pray for this work.
It may be that some of you have been waiting for the Planning permission to be granted before you contribute towards the building project. If that is you and you would like to give something towards the project please make all gifts payable to St. Andrew’s Church and place in an envelope marked “Building Fund”. This can be put in the collection box or handed to Mick Shrubb our Treasurer. And remember to Gift Aid your donation if you are a taxpayer.

Fund Raising Activities

CD

Paul Gruet and Ian Edgson have recorded a CD with 14 original Christian songs. All profits will be given to the St. Andrew's new church building fund. Suggested donation is £5 but you can give more or less if you want. To get your copy, see Linda Mankelow, Marilyn Appleby or Paul Gruet.

(note to St Andrews members, if you are involved in a fund raising activity please contact me and I will advertise it on the website).

EBAY

For anyone who is interested in trying to buy or sell something on eBay to raise funds for the Building Project, log onto http://www.ebay.co.uk , select eBay for Charity from the headings on the left hand side of the page. About 2/3 of the way down this page is a heading View all participating charities. This will take you to the Advanced Charity Search page. In the yellow search box type in PCC of ST MARYS PARISH ST ANDREWS CHURCH FURNACE GREEN. Next click search. Now click on that title and it will bring up our mission statement. On the bottom right are the words Learn More. This will take you to our own page, which shows all the current items we have listed. There are also various other headings, (top right) which you can click onto to find out how to register with eBay, buy or bid for an item, find an item or pay the seller. If you click on the heading For Sellers you will be taken t a page which explains in full detail how to sell an item. If you want anymore help phone Jackie Bateman on 01293 418451.

Total So Far!

Following our 2007 gift day we have now raised (excluding pledges) £394000!

We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD.
( Psalm 78:4)

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