Update on Kerith Windsor building
Those of you who have been around over the last year will know that we recently acquired our own venue. The warehouse we were hiring for a few hours on Sunday mornings became available and we were able to sign a 5 year lease. Praise God!
The lease gives us full use of the warehouse, not only on Sundays but for every day of the week, and not only did we take on the lease of that warehouse, but also, of the warehouse and office spaces next door too, which is going to be brilliant for our families as now our kids work no longer needs to be in the small building on the other side of the busy Dedworth road.
Having these warehouse and offices spaces is going to open up so many possibilities and opportunities to serve not only our church family but also the wider local Windsor Community in the months and years ahead. We now have the facilities to run parents and toddler groups, holiday clubs as well as the different cap courses, recovery groups and Kerith growth track courses such as Alpha. While continuing to run the homeless shelters, Food-share and other big events such a Christmas Carol concerts. Gaining full use of these spaces is really going to put us in a place where we can do all we feel God is calling us to do in the years going forward.
But first, there is some work to do!
Some of that work I'm pleased to say has already begun. A team of people have started painting the different spaces and laying new carpets and flooring to get the kids rooms ready for when we start doing kids work again on the 27th of June.
But there are also some bigger renovations that need to take place if we going to be able to do all that I believe God is calling us to do in this area.
We need to update the heating system where we gather on a Sunday. Those that have been with us on Sunday will know it's either noisy, because of the current system, or it's cold. So we would like to change that, and also to put heating in the new warehouse, so our kids can use it outside of the two months a year we don't need the heating on in this country :) Also, we want to make the entrance to the building wider. At the moment people have to walk through a narrow zig zag of a corridor to get into our auditorium. We want to make the entrance bigger and more welcoming and then knock a few walls down to create a big foyer reception area and put in a kitchen and coffee bar area. The dream is people will come into a really welcoming open space where they can have a coffee and some food while they hang out, perhaps before going to the toddler groups or one of the others church events.
I think having this building and getting the work done will help us to a be the type of church that if it were to cease to exist the local community would feel it. That's the type of church we want to be.
So in order to help make this a reality we are looking to raise £100,000.
We have a list of priorities, with the heating at the very top of that list, but I'd love us to get to place financially where we can get the other work done too, Inc the coffee area! :) I think it would be so great to have an area where we can meet the people in our church and also the local community too. A place I believe relationships will be made and deepened, somewhere where we can have conversations with those people in the local community that don't know God or the good news of the gospel.
So I want to encourage and challenge all of us to play our part and give to this fund. Whether you can give £1, £10 or £10,000. Let's all of us pray and ask God how much He is calling us to give. The Bible says that God loves a cheerful giver. We don't give out of compulsion, or to earn God's love, we give as an act of worship and to partner with God in the building of His kingdom on earth.
If you would like to give you can do that here: https://kerith.churchsuite.co.uk/donate/fund/fk7skumv
When we give to this fund we are giving to something that is going to bless this community for many years to come. I believe God has given us this building so that we can make a difference in this community and for us to lead many people back to Him.
Windsor Site Pastor
Leon Johnson
