Author: Peter

Lumen Project Day 43 – 4 weeks to go

Not a lot to report this week, there does not seem to have been much change.

Work has progressed with more plaster being put on to cover the brick work and this had to dry before the finishing render could be applied. It looks very close to the original colour of our finish, but time will tell when it has chance to dry out properly.

Talking to the builders they are hoping for the windows to arrive soon, so are we as the weather is beginning to become more autumnal and frost is forecast for next weekend.

Only four weeks to the completion date let’s hope we are going to make it. Baptism  booked for 2^nd December and it is the start of Advent and a New Church Year.

We are now not only looking in, but now Looking up, and hopefully by December , looking out.

Lumen Project Day 36

No we are not starting our celebration just yet. The plasterers are now on site and covering the exposed brick work, and tidying up the edges where the demolition took place. The sides of our East window have been complete and the bottom has had battens fitted for the new render.

North and South windows have had the initial layer of plater and the base of the walls are primed for the render.

We have been told that the windows are now being manufactured.

As we are now 5 weeks into the project and hopefully half way there, and all is progressing well.  Keep watching for the new developments.

Lumen Project Day 29 – Demolition is over.

We are now four weeks in to the Project and the demolition has been completed.  The cold wind is blowing through the church, dust is everywhere but at least we are now seeing moves in construction.

The two dwarf walls are completed and we now have the plasterers in to render the walls ready for the windows.

Now who goes round measuring the holes well we now know it is the men who are manufacturing the windows. They have been in and have taken the exact (well we hope) sizes of the openings are now in the process of starting construction of the windows.  Let us hope that the plaster is finished in time for the windows to arrive.

Sorry the photos this week are not much different to previous weeks, in fact very little difference to see only the cavity has been filled in ready for the plaster to get on. It is difficult to capture the cement mixer going round so I did not bother and leave it to your imagination.

Lumen Project Day 22 – The build has started.

We are now three weeks in to the Project and most of the demolition has been completed. No need for air conditioning the wind can get right through the building. A very fresh start on these mornings.

On the positive side the bricklayers have been in and the dwarf walls in each of the sanctuary Windows are now in place. They are just what was wanted.

We wait to see what developed over the next week. I have been  told that the window manufactures will soon be in to get the final measurements.

We are moving forward

 

 

Lumen Project Day 16 – 25 September 2018

If you go down to St. Mary’s tonight be prepared for a BIG surprise.

Gill Sakakini our minister has been in consultation with our builders and look what they have come up with.  It has been said that you would have an impact on our church but we did not expect this.

WELL DONE!

Lumen Project  Day 15 – 24 September 2018

Here we are on Day 15 two weeks since the start of the Lumen Project and the work of removing the offending Mullions continues.   The removal work on the South Window is complete and the dressing of the masonry for the dwarf wall and the window frames is underway, The North window has nearly all the old mullions removed; only a little remains at ground level.

We have now had several services in the hall and are getting used to our new surroundings. Midweek service on Wednesday at 10:30 then we get a week off as we have our Benefice Service at St. Paul’s  on the 30^th September  the 5^th Sunday of the Month. This Service is at 10am so for us an early start.

You will be kept informed as to the progress on Project Lumen and we continue to to Look in, Look up and Look out from St. Mary’s.

Lumen Project   – Day 7

Our first Sunday in the hall! This is a new experience for us. Gill and her workers have done a great job on making the hall look more like a worship centre than a brick faced utility hall. Mary has dusted off the piano and is now getting to terms with the upright.

Congregation arrived and seem very pleased with the way things look. Perhaps the chairs are not the most comfortable, but no one fell asleep during Gills inspiring sermon.

A few teething issues, not problems but those will be ironed out in the weeks to come.

We seem happy here for the time being but I am sure that we all look forward to when we can get back into the main building.  If you would like to come and join us at one of our services they are every Sunday and Wednesday at 10:30 am while we are in the hall.

We are Looking In , Looking Up and Looking Out with this new Project.

     

The end of the first week of work and we can certainly see signs of the work in progress.  The demolition of the old mullions is underway. It was a good job that the Organ was covered and sealed in polythene, as there is a lot of dust, and we have only started on knocking down the old.

We look forward to our First Sunday Service in the hall. We will let you know what it was like later.

Not only us Looking In, now all can see.

 

Today we had our first service in the church hall.

Gill our minister has pulled all the work together to create these peaceful and reflective screens and temporary alter.

This turns our plain hall into our worship centre for the next couple of months, quite a dramatic transformation. Something different to make us think of why we worship and leading us to focus on

Looking In, Looking Up and Looking Out