The
Landmarks ProjectDurie Hall now open
After a number of years of hard work, generous giving, excellent building
work and many prayers we can stand back and thank and praise God for the beautiful
new Durie Hall that we now have. The hall was dedicated by the Bishop of Southwark
in March 2007 and then opened by Janie Durie widow of the late Ian Durie who
was minister here. A fantastic celebration was had on the 13th of May 2007 with
many friends of St Marks old and new in attendance. The building is now in use
with it providing an amazing resource for the church and the community. Many
thanks to all those who have given so generously to the project.
Back in 1987, 50 people came to a derelict building. Through God's provision, inspiration and love, we've grown to a congregation of over 500 adults. We've increased from 1 paid member of staff to 13, from 1 ordained clergy to 4, from 20 children to 150 - and the growth continues. All this new life and ministry means that we're bursting at the seams and our present facilities are proving inadequate.
St. Mark's has a vision that the congregation needs to work together as a group of people, serving each other and the wider community in God's strength. In order to develop new and existing ministries and take them out into the locality, more space is desperately required.
The church and its adjacent buildings need to become a base-camp for a whole range of activities. The church is where we receive teaching, prayer and fellowship. It acts as a central point in directing, enabling, supporting and financing all the work that God is calling us to do. Besides the extra space required, the existing church hall and youth room leaked, had structural problems and was not easily adapted to the different uses required of it. These all needed to be replaced.
The need for more space and building repairs presents us with a fantastic opportunity. The time has come to equip the site for all that we sense God is asking us to do. There is no doubt that the new buildings will be used to their maximum potential.
We have been taking pictures each week to show the progress of the building work. Please follow this link to see some of the pictures.
The project will cost around £2.32m. Well over half of this has already been raised. Some has come from trust funds, but the majority of the remainder will come from St Mark’s members committing themselves to this project. If you wish to support Landmarks, please make a pledge by filling in the pledge form and return to the Project Treasurer. Giving to Landmarks is separate from giving to the church general funds.
There a number of methods of giving to the project, as such as; standing order, Give As You Earn direct from your Payroll, cheque, cash, CAF Cheque. To give regularly to the Building Project, please complete a standing order form and return it to the Project Treasurer. Cheques should be made payable to St Marks Church Building Account. If you are a tax payer please complete the gift aid declaration which is part of the standing order form to allow us to claim 22% tax back from the Inland Revenue. If you are a higher rate tax payer you can reclaim further tax relief in your tax return for any gift you have made.
To give online to St Marks Building Project, you can use the Charities Aid Foundation website to give securely.
To discuss giving to the project, tax efficient and alternative methods of giving such as donating shares, please call Samson Gebrehiwot in the church office.
