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REDEVELOPMENT
BRIEFING PAPER – JAN 2008
Introduction
The Mint is the largest Methodist Church in
Exeter. Over the past five years, the
work of the Church has grown significantly, membership has grown from 170 to
215, and average Sunday morning attendance from 120 to 180. The Church occupies a prime site in the
heart of the city, but its buildings, many dating from the 19th
Century are now seriously inadequate for our work. The congregation has committed itself to
remaining in the city centre and redeveloping our premises.
Our Vision
Our
vision for the Mint is of a large, thriving and influential Church community
committed to social concern, open debate and Christian witness. In particular we seek to develop further
our growing work in these areas:
·
An International
Church. Our regular Church Community
now includes those born in more than a dozen different countries, including
Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, India, the Philippines, Ghana, Kenya,
Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Australia and the USA. We have a particularly large Korean group
with our own Korean Pastor and regular Korean language services. We hold a monthly service in
Cantonese. Building on this strong
base, we seek to develop a fully international community at the heart of the
city.
·
A Church for the
local Community We have a strong
tradition of work with elderly people living in the city centre, including the
neighbouring Homecourt sheltered housing complex. Our Luncheon Club has received excellent
reviews and praise in the local secular press.
We serve coffee every Wednesday,
and open our premises for coffee and conversation for clubbers from 11 pm to 2
am on Friday nights. We are building
increasingly fruitful links with the Islamic community in the city, and taking
a leading role in developing interfaith dialogue: the Mint hosts the monthly
meetings of the Exeter Interfaith Group.
We give financial support to the ecumenical St Petrocks project for the
homeless. We are the Methodist
University Chaplaincy Church. We wish
to build on all these areas, and also to develop our city centre chaplaincy
role significantly in coming years.
·
A Church
committed to justice and peace We are
a Fair Trade Church and regularly raise money and campaign on behalf of many
national and international charities such as Christian Aid. We host events sponsored by groups such
as the Exeter Global Centre. We have
particularly close links with past and present Mint members working for peace
and justice in Zimbabwe. Through a
growth in our conferencing facilities, we aim to develop our reputation as a
centre for social concern.
·
A Conference and
Arts Centre Our main auditorium has
an excellent acoustic and our premises are excellently positioned for
conference style events, though currently our ancillary premises limit the
service we can provide. Our Sunday
programme already draws members from a wide area beyond the city, and we want
to develop this across all our activities.
Our Premises
Much of our recent growth and
development as a Church has been in spite of - rather than because of - our
existing buildings, which are currently inadequate for the demands of a modern
and thriving city centre Church.
The Initial Scheme (2002-6)
Initial feasibility studies
and detailed planning for a development scheme were drawn up between 2002 and
2006, and gained the approval of, and the promise of funding support from, the
Connexion and the Rank Trust, the District and the Circuit. Sadly, this scheme (involving major demolition
and selling off of part of the site to fund a new build) proved to be
financially unviable. The Church
congregation had worked very hard to realize this scheme, yet remained
determinedly steadfast, enthusiastic and committed when faced with the need to
rethink the project in a major way.
The Current Scheme (2007-8)
Many
lessons were learnt from the development of the first project, and as a result
we have worked with a new architect to put together a new scheme which builds
on and enhances our existing premises rather than demolishing them prior to
rebuilding.
In
line with this new approach, the congregation has used its own labour to
redecorate and refurbish several rooms (structurally sound but in poor
decorative condition), as well as reviewing the whole fabric and addressing a
number of maintenance issues which had been put on hold prior to anticipated
demolition. However, it remained clear
that many of the issues limiting our work could only be addressed by a major
redevelopment scheme.
With our architect we have
thus developed a new scheme covering the following key areas:
·
a remodelling of
the front of the premises to provide a new entrance, foyer and meeting spaces
for coffee, conversation and informal meeting – a focal point for all entering
and leaving the premises, and easily visible from the street.
·
Easy access to
all parts of the building from a single entry/reception point, including
provision of a new centrally situated lift.
·
Full facilities
for the disabled including toilets and loop sound systems.
·
New catering
facilities at the heart of the premises serving upgraded meeting rooms and the
central auditorium/worship area.
·
Upgrading to meet
all current fire, safety and access legislation.
·
An enhanced and
flexible central auditorium area with high quality lighting, staging and audio
visual facilities suitable for Sunday morning worship as well as concerts and
other large meetings and events.
We believe that this new
scheme is financially achievable, whilst at the same time meeting all the key
objectives for mission and outreach which informed the earlier proposals.
Andrew Sails
January 2008.
FUND-RAISING GROUP
This group meets to
think up and plan good ideas for fund raising - Concerts, Auctions, Meals,
Quizzes, things top sell or sponsor, we've lots of ideas - why not come
along? Please contact Andrew Green or
Liz Sails with ideas and offers or for more information