2016-10

A Vision for St Chad’s
I
am writing this in early
August. The building
works at the church have
been going on for a month
now and the place is a
mess. Outside on the drive is
a skip absolutely full of rubble
and detritus from the church.
The completion of the project,
scheduled for February 2017
still feels a very long way off. It
is a challenge to hold the vision
of the completed building when
the present situation is dust and
destruction.
But a vision there is, and it
is a vision that had driven the
tremendous generosity of the
church that enabled us to raise the
remarkable sum of £435,000. So
when the church is completed, what will
it enable us to do differently?
St Chad’s Church is just over 100
years old. Throughout its history it
has been altered and added to but
never with an overarching grand plan.
The result is a church building that is
dearly loved by those who worship but
which also has its quirks and is need of
considerable modernisation.
The most pressing need for the church
was to ensure that it was accessible
for all. We believe that God’s grace
and mercy are available to all and our
building needed to refl ect that. New
ramps inside and out will ensure that
the worship area and meeting rooms will
be accessible for those with impaired
mobility. New toilets are to be fi tted
within the body of the church, including a
disabled toilet.
Another need for the church was
fl exibility. Gone are the days when
a church building was only used for
Sunday morning worship. As well as
our two Sunday services (both of which
are very different in style) the building is
used by schools and for music concerts
as well as by a variety of church and
other groups. The building needed to
be able to accommodate these different
uses by increasing the number of
meeting areas, improving our kitchen
facilities and increasing the size of our
parish offi ce. A new mezzanine fl oor is
being built which we hope will provide
better space for our youth work.
But above all, the vision of St
Chad’s is to be a church that worships
and serves and the new building will
give us far more opportunities to do
this. I believe that the interior of the
church will look truly beautiful with the
font and war memorial relocated to
dedicated remembrance and initiation
spaces. There will be new lighting,
new carpets and better sight lines
St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats
Church Offi ce: 9 Linden Avenue, Sheffi eld S8 0GA
Tel: (0114) 274 5086
Page 12
email: offi ce@stchads.org
website: www.stchads.org