Life February 2021 fv1

“Once-in-a-lifetime” is one of those
phrases which often promises more
than it delivers.
But while trying to avoid the hype,
that’s the potential which the new
Church Building on Lansdowne Road
represents for the advance of the
gospel.
I’m excited to see what God can do
through such a strategic location which
has a reach into so many different
communities, locally and globally.
The plan has been a long time in the
making. Two generations ago the idea
of a new Church building began to be
discussed.
Eight years ago we named it the
Regeneration Project. For this has
always been about more than building
a multi-purpose facility, but to renew,
re-purpose and regenerate a Christian
community.
I don’t think any of us would have
chosen to complete a building project
during a pandemic! But God is
amazingly answering prayer for that.
Regular giving and more recently
£700k in interest free loans means we
remain on target to complete by the
summer.
We held an interactive, virtual tour
on Saturday morning January 24 th so
that people could “walk through” the
premises and we are looking forward
to a Gift Day on Sunday January 31 st to
raise the final £300k for fit out costs.
The key stage we have now reached is
to see how we can each play our part
in realising the potential which this
resource offers us.
The challenge we still have in all this
is that Covid isn’t done with us yet!
All of us have spent most of the last
year personally, trying to survive big
domestic and work life challenges. So
re engaging those whose experience
of Church has been mainly online and
virtual is going to be difficult.
So what follows in this edition of
Life are important messages and
opportunities for you to hear about
Lansdowne’s vision, strategy and
method, as we move forward together
towards the biggest step change in our
story as a Church since the original
building.
I’ve been thinking through what it
might look like for us, when we occupy
the new Church centre, to realise in
Bournemouth the vision of the prophet
Haggai, “the glory of this present
house will be greater than the glory of
the former house.” It’s obviously a very
different context. But our prayer has to
be that in a thousand different ways,
the glory of God will fill His house.
Peter Baker | Senior Minister