Latest update
As of 31st December 2011 the total given & pledged including Gift Aid has risen to £823,059.
The Next Leg of the Race: Part 2 - The Race
In this talk John expands on the previous week's talk and looks at what the writer of Hebrews exhorts us to do as we run the race marked out for us.
The Next Leg of The Race
In this talk John lays out the vision for the next phase in the development of our facilities.
Our Story
Since 1996 Trent Vineyard has been on a journey, this video encapsulates the first 15 years of the development of the church and its ministries.
Arches Move
The Arches, one of our largest ministries serving those in need in our city, has experienced phenomenal growth since it began; they are now planning to move to larger premises and this provides a sneak peak into how these might be used.
Arches Sunday
Each year we dedicate a sunday to celebrate the work the Lord is doing through the Arches, this video is our service from Sunday 16th October 2011.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus.
From the moment Trent Vineyard began with a small group of envisioned people led by John & Debby Wright, we have been on a journey of faith with God.
We have done our best to keep in step with His Spirit, and with our hand in His, to follow wherever He leads. We are running the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus. And each leg of the race brings with it new challenges and new advances of God’s kingdom.
We are at one of those key moments in our history where the Lord is inviting us to do what is needed to enable His plans for us to move forward.
Looking back for a moment, our story as a Church has been an amazing testimony to God’s grace. He has led us from the beginning through some uncharted territory, placed some hugely challenging opportunities before us and held our hand as we’ve done our best to respond to them.
In the early years journey we outgrew every venue we could find to rent, and when the Lord made it clear that we should buy land and build the Warehouse (which is what we call our main church building), we dug deep and sacrificially gave what was needed to do so.
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God continued to bring more people and there came a point where we had to expand our property. We gave again, and were able to buy the back plot next door and in 2008 extend the Warehouse giving us significantly more space.
With the kitchen, café, and outside area unfinished, the Church gave again in 2010 and we were able to buy the front plot next door and convert one of the units (which is about the size of our auditorium) into Trent Youth Centre. It is a phenomenal facility with its sports hall, auditorium, climbing wall, dance studio and multi-purpose rooms and also houses TLG, a school for young people facing exclusion from mainstream education. We also surfaced the new car park.
Since 2000 members of Trent Vineyard have demonstrated the most extraordinary commitment to giving what has been needed to create the facilities we now have, all of which enable us as a church to do what we do. Over that time the total amount that Trent members have given and pledged to buying land and building (including the tax reclaimed) is an astonishing £7.5M!
The next leg of the race
The next phase in the development of our facilities is made up of two things. Finishing off the Warehouse, and developing the unit on the front plot to be used by The Arches.
Finishing what we started
The shell of the café was built a little over 3 years ago when the Warehouse was extended, and while it helped accommodate our youth before the Youth Centre was built, it has sat empty for much of that time, awaiting the money needed to complete it.
We believe the time has now come to finish off what we’ve started and to complete the kitchen and café with its bookshop and outside decked area, as well as a cycle shelter.
The kitchen will be a superb facility for many of the events we struggle to cater for in our current kitchen by the bar. It will enhance our ability to provide food for the many conferences which use the Warehouse (thus creating new jobs, as well as income which can be invested in ministry). It will also offer quality coffee and food through the café.
We believe the development of the café with its small bookshop will enhance the Church’s life providing a beautiful and friendly place which will be used throughout the week.
On Sundays it will provide a place for parents with unsettled babies to feel included in the service via the window into the auditorium and a live video feed. Open on weekdays, we anticipate it being used by staff, church members and their friends as well as people from the surrounding businesses, enjoying what we believe will be a superb café with a beautiful indoor-outdoor feel. It will also provide a flexible and attractive venue for a greater variety of evening and Saturday events.
Moving The Arches Project
The ‘South Building’ on the front plot and much of the two-storey building across the Lenton Lane frontage has been leased from us by a fashion business, whose lease recently ended we now have the opportunity of using that space.
The Arches Project is a significant area of ministry in the life of the Church based under Abbey Bridge in Lenton and recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. Over that time it has grown from its initial inception to a thriving community involving around 250 Trent volunteers. Many of the clients we minister to now feel part of the Arches community. Thousands of lives have been touched through this extraordinary ministry, and its life-transforming impact continues to grow.
The Arches Project is a holistic ministry, providing for not only physical needs with food, clothing and furniture, but for deeper needs too with the Small Groups, Mothers & Toddlers, Coffee Lounge, Drugs Clinic, ‘Arches Restoration’ etc. (For more information see the ‘The Arches Project Update’, or the 'Arches Sunday' video above.)
There has been significant growth in the quality and diversity of what The Arches Project provides, and even with the furniture now housed in the industrial unit on our back plot, the current premises under Abbey Bridge are no longer suitable or large enough to accommodate the growth the Lord is enabling.
The available space on our front plot is ideal to accommodate the many and varied parts of its ministry in one integrated facility.
Arches clients will continue to select furniture items from computer screens; however, we plan to house the furniture in the rear of the unit, with direct vehicle access from Lenton Lane.
Another of our ministries, Trent Debt Advice (TDA), opened in May 2011 to help people living in or around Nottingham with debt and money worries. Following 10 years of partnering with Christians Against Poverty, we now work with the Christian debt charity Community Money Advice and with Advice UK to help people in debt. As part of our ministry to those in need we aim to give people hope and non-judgemental practical support, and have seen many lives changed through this ministry.
The planned work will also allow us to move TDA into this building from the rooms it is currently using in the Warehouse, thus freeing up space for Vineyard Kids and other activities.
Before we can start the move, we need to re-roof the main unit. We are also installing some photovoltaic panels to generate electricity from the sun, which will reduce our carbon footprint. In the front part we will create a reception area, coffee lounge, decked garden, office, workshop, kitchen and toilets. We will also adjust one end of the frontage to accommodate a small shop for the more exceptional items of furniture that are donated. This will not only provide resources for The Arches Project but along with ‘Arches Restoration’ it will provide training and responsible roles where clients can learn vocational skills and in some cases find employment.
The combined cost of these goals is an estimated £800,000.
This is made up of approximately £400,000 for the work on the Warehouse and the photovoltaic panels, and £400,000 for the work relating to the moving of The Arches Project and TDA.
This will release a future which will be a blessing to us, to those who attend events in our main building, and to thousands who will experience God’s unconditional love in so many ways.
Our part in this next leg of the race
We have again invited Trent members (and anyone else who would like to) to give to enable this next exciting phase to become a reality. For some it will be relatively small amounts; for others it may be tens of thousands of pounds. We have asked people to give as the Lord prompts them in accordance with the resources He has blessed them with.
There will be some who have given (and perhaps are still giving) to previous phases of our ‘building expansion’ and who for a variety of reasons feel it’s right to not extend their giving this time. That is of course absolutely fine, and no-one should feel any pressure to give. There are many who have not yet participated and many who are in a position to give more and we trust the Lord will prompt those He wants to provide what is needed
Upfront Gifts
We invited people to consider an upfront gift, enabling us to get on with the work.
Ongoing Pledges
Many people don’t have much in the way of savings, so another great way of giving is by pledging to give a certain amount to the building expansion over the next few years, the best way often being by a standing order. Even a relatively small amount each month can make a significant contribution over a few years.
Many of us who have given to the previous phases of our expansion still have pledges running and although some may consider making a further pledge over-and-above that amount each month, one way to give would be to add say a couple of further years to that existing pledge. We have the option of temporarily extending our bank loan against such pledges to allow us to access the money ahead of time.
As we think about what we might give, both up front and over the coming years, it is important to make that decision prayerfully. For most of us, looking simply at what we think we could afford after all our outgoings are deducted will not release very much.
In 1 Chronicles 21:24, King David said “I will not ... sacrifice an ... offering that costs me nothing”, and for this project to happen, it is going to cost. It will involve significant levels of sacrifice. This next leg of the race marked out for each of us is going to require perseverance.
The amount up front and the amount we pledge each month will of course depend on our financial circumstances. The more God has given us, the more He may ask of us. Often the first figure that comes to mind may be a comfortable amount. But seek God over a period of time until you’re convinced the amount you’ve decided on is also the amount He’s asking of you. It may be more than you can imagine affording, which requires trust that God will provide for your needs in out-of-the-ordinary ways. Experience shows that He will.
Equal sacrifice not equal gifts
We want to be a people who give sacrificially but also freely. What giving sacrificially means to each person is a relative thing and we are approaching this on the basis of "equal sacrifice not equal gifts". Give to the Lord in proportion to what He has given you. The important thing is that we each give what He has asked of us, no more, no less – He knows our hearts, our circumstances and the cost of our sacrifice.
Questions & Answers - The Planned Work
What is new in this leg of the race?
The step of moving The Arches Project onto the front plot is essentially the new part of our plans.
Everything we have done so far in terms of buying both plots of land and building the extension and Youth Centre (including finishing the café etc.) is laid out in the original 2006 brochure within ‘Expansion phase 1’ and ‘Expansion phase 2’.
Under the heading ‘The second phase is the purchasing of the rest of the plot’ we wrote: Whilst at this point we are not clear exactly how that will be used, given our growth over the past 10 years, as we look to the longer-term future we believe that securing this piece of land will enable us to continue into the coming decades to develop without becoming ‘land locked’. .... In the future it gives us the potential to expand in whatever ways the Lord seems to be indicating. Possibilities would include a larger auditorium, job creation businesses and training space, or whatever meets our needs and vision at that time.
It has become clear that moving The Arches Project and TDA onto this site meets that vision.
Is previously given and pledged money included in the figures in this brochure?
The short answer is no, with the longer explanation below. The money given and pledged has mainly been spent, and the remaining pledges coming in are not included in these figures as we anticipate a small reduction of our mortgage (which we significantly increased for 'The Race') at some point in the next few years.
In 2006 and 2008 people gave towards the overall vision outlined in the ‘Race Marked Out’ brochure, which included buying the back plot followed by the front plot, extending the Warehouse and creating a Youth and Training Centre. Every pound given has been put towards those ends.
In 2010 we had a further gift day, again within the aims stated in the ‘Race Marked Out’ brochure, this time towards buying the front plot, creating the Youth Centre, surfacing the car park and finishing off the Warehouse extension.
We felt that the urgency for the Youth Centre was greater than finishing the extension. At that time we had borrowed to bring the pledged money ‘into the present’, with the original intention of paying that loan off using the pledges as they came in. However, faced with the large sums involved in buying the front plot and creating the Youth Centre, we decided to use the money towards that project rather than leaving it to pay off the extra loan, thus enabling a more attainable goal for the March 2010 gift day.
We now anticipate perhaps £0.3M of the money pledged, predominantly in 2010, being available in a few years’ time to invest in upgrading the poor quality front plot surface, and reducing our mortgage from around £1.4M to £1.2M. The savings on monthly interest payments can be put to ministry uses.
Are we setting aside our normal 22% (to be given away, or spent on activities that benefit those outside our Church)?
This time we are aiming to set apart 50%.
The Arches Project was originally refurbished over 10 years ago using some of the money set apart from the first gift day “to be given to, or spent on the poor, other churches and mission”. That was the language we used then and the proportion we set apart for such things was 20%.
This was increased to 22% in recent years and for greater clarity the language was adjusted to “Set apart: to be given away, or spent on activities that benefit those outside our Church”.
So the refurbishment and furnishing of the unit that The Arches Project will move into fits right into the purpose we use ‘set apart’ money for.
The relocation of The Arches Project accounts for about half of the estimated £0.8M that we are asking people to give. We would effectively have set apart around 50% rather than 22% on this occasion.
What if more than £0.8M is given and pledged?
That would of course be wonderful! We would be able to proceed with everything we have planned and use anything beyond that to further reduce our mortgage. Mortgage payments to the bank are a drain on our resources and we would dearly love to become debt-free as soon as possible. We would of course ensure that at least 22% of the overall funds raised are set apart.
What if something prevented us doing this project?
There is always the possibility of delays caused by problems with planning permission, building work or insufficient money, in which case we would persevere. However, if it became either impossible to proceed with either component or perhaps due to some major unforeseen circumstance, not sensible to proceed, then the appropriate share of the ‘building fund’ at that point (after any loans beyond our existing mortgage were repaid) would be offered proportionately back to those who gave it. Other than the situation above, money which has been given cannot be returned.
What happens in the future if one of our compassion ministries were to move out?
We believe that it is right to relocate the Arches and TDA. Risk assessments have been conducted, and we will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that each of our compassion ministries can operate in close proximity to the church and to each other. We expect The Arches Project to be able to occupy the major part of the space for at least the next decade, and probably many years beyond that.
In the event that it ever became sensible for the Arches, TDA, TLG or any other of our compassion projects to move to a new site, we would look to honour the intentions of the original givers as far as possible.
When might the Cafe be finished?
If sufficient money is given we anticipate the café being finished in early summer 2012.
When might The Arches Project move in?
Again dependent on sufficient money, we anticipate the project moving during the summer of 2012.
Questions & Answers - My Gift
What will I be expected to give?
As the Finances section unpacked, each of us should give what we believe the Lord is asking us to give. It will involve sacrifice but we want everyone to give freely and cheerfully.
All contributions are valuable however large or small. With for instance a 3 year pledge, it is worth remembering how much a monthly sacrifice releases over such a period.
| Monthly | Yearly | Over 3 years* |
|---|---|---|
| £10 | £120 | £450 |
| £50 | £600 | £2,250 |
| £100 | £1,200 | £4,500 |
| £500 | £6,000 | £22,500 |
| £1000 | £12,000 | £45,000 |
* The 3 year totals assume that gift aid applies.
How do I make an upfront gift?
Please fill in the commitment card which can be downloaded here, fold and seal it enclosing your cheque or cash and either post it or bring it to Church. Please make cheques payable to ‘Trent Vineyard’. Alternatively you can pay by direct bank transfer using our bank details on the commitment card.
For those of you who are taxpayers completing the Gift Aid Declaration will enable us to reclaim from HMRC the tax you have previously paid.
How do I make an ongoing pledge?
Decide on the monthly amount you wish to give towards the building project and the length of your pledge – (you may wish to make it for more or less than 3 years). This is the amount you want to give in addition to your regular giving to Trent Vineyard.
Can I designate how my gift is allocated?
Our hope is that people will give to the overall vision, allowing us flexibility in how we allocate resources and how we phase the work.
However, if you have strong feelings as to how your gift should be allocated, then please email giving@trentvineyard.org
Can I get a printed version of the brochure?
Feel free to email us at therace@trentvineyard.org if you would like a brochure posted to you.
Will any of the pastoral staff know what I give?
It is our intention that none of the pastoral staff know what you give. John & Debby would want to acknowledge any gift but would not know the amount. We feel it protects the pastoral relationship by keeping what you give confidential. This is between you and the Lord, and we want no one to feel pressurised to perform for anyone.
Our financial staff will be responsible for counting and processing gifts and keeping records.
Can I change my pledges?
Yes. If for any reason you wish to alter your pledge (e.g. your financial situation changes) you can either increase or decrease your commitment to this project. We simply ask that you inform the Church either by email to giving@trentvineyard.org or by letter.
What if I have more questions?
Feel free to email us at therace@trentvineyard.org
Copyright © Trent Vineyard 2012 - All rights reserved.