Sunday 5th December 2010

The roof of the church is so impressive.
The tilers have been working all weekend and the roof is nearing completion. Here it is -


Meanwhile the rest of the building is moving along, the verandah roof has started, the aluminium doors and windows are now almost all fitted and the carpenter has been fitting the wooden door-frames.


The 'link' roof between the church and the kitchen has not yet been resolved, but Peter B has a plan!


The builders' holiday starts at the end of this next week, which will not really affect us as far as the labour goes - they will work on to Christmas Eve, and start again on the 3rd January - but the suppliers will be closing, which means that we will have to make sure that we have all the necessary materials on site by Friday to get us through to January.

Saturday 27th November 2010

At last the main roof is underway!
This is a great relief as it has been hanging over our heads (excuse the terrible pun!) for too long. Now, the roof is designed and has been accepted by all those who know about these things; it has been fabricated and delivered, and on Tuesday the crane arrived to lift the trusses up onto the wall-plates.
Slowly, slowly the bracing is being put in place and, hopefully, by the end on this next week the tiles will be in place and the roof completed.



The next roof that has to be worked on is the link roof over the toilets. It has to be especially built on site as it has some crazy angles and pitches.

Inside the kitchen/coffee shop/entrance/office part of the building the ceilings have been put in place and the carpenter is now installing the tongue-and-groove ceiling in the entrance. The door frames have been delivered and will be fitted this coming week.
Work has also started on the veranda posts - watch for the next set of photos!

11th November 2010

Last Sunday (7th) we celebrated our first service in the new (roofless) church!
It was a wonderful occasion filled with expectation and excitement.
The first of us arrived at 5.30am and started sweeping and cleaning the floor, moving sound equipment, chairs, tables, all the stuff for the kitchen (tea, coffee etc.) pew leaflets, etc, etc from the church office to the church. The music group arrived at 6.00 and set up before Johnny P. arrived to connect up the electricity from the main box. He had already wired and tested all the plug points that we would need, but it was with great joy that we turned on the urn in the kitchen and the little red light came on! How Anglican - that the first thing to draw power through the new system was the urn for tea!
The music group was soon in action and practising the music for the service.
Next came the welcomers and then little by little the congregation arrived, each carrying their chairs. Cindy Jarnig watching from the front of the church with the music group, told me how wonderful it was to see the expectation on the happy faces of the people as they arrived.
The altar and lectern (a music stand) were set up at the front and by 8.00 we were ready.
Just before we started I asked the congregation of 165 to give me a wave - here they are!



What an amazing service!
Singing with joy and celebration
Sharing the Word and the Peace
Sharing in the Eucharist

And then we went through to the coffee shop for tea - the ladies had provided masses of egg sandwiches and cakes - and I think that everyone stayed! Denis Fortune did a roaring business at his veggie table, selling freshly picked (that morning!)vegetables. People stood and chatted or wandered around having a look at the buildings and the entrance.
They loved it all!

Here are a few pictures taken by Ann Duane

27th October 2010 - The floors are poured!

Today was a very big day for us in the building of the church.
The concrete pump arrived at 7.30am, followed by truck after truck of ready-mix.


It was a truly amazing sight as the pump operator swung the boom by remote control. The men at the working end connected extra pipes and finally a flexible tube, which 'glooped' out the concrete at an amazing rate.


Starting at the far end of the building they poured the floor in the rector's office and then the office block, before pouring the entrance and verandah. This is the view down the verandah from the church end.


This is the view from the office end.


And here is the entrance after the floor was poured.


This picture shows the new church 'mid-pour'. To get an idea of the depth of the concrete, look at the man standing in the concrete.


We need your prayers for the roof of the church - getting the design right has not been easy and we are now getting a tad frustrated! It must be ordered soon!

Monday 10th October 2010

I cannot understand why this blog gets so far behind!

The pictures speak for themselves, but I will add a bit of narrative!

This first picture shows you where we were on Sunday (10th). The roof trusses over the kitchen/ coffee shop and offices are complete. Today (Monday) the two beams connecting the roof over the entrance were put in place and the trusses will be fitted accross the space. The plan is that by Friday the entire roof from the kitchen to the offices will be tiled.


This next picture shows the back of the buildings from the car park.
From the left - offices, entrance, coffee shop/ kitchen. At the far end you can see the church gables.


I have included this picture as it is a prayer-need.
The picture is the new church and it stands starkly Alamo-like against the sky. We need lots of prayer here because we have not yet ordered the roof. The reason for that is that we are just not feeling comfortable about the design. We tweak it and change it, but don't get the feeling that it is right. We have said that the roof must be ordered by the end of the week - please pray for our direction.


This picture was taken from near the rectory fence looking up towards the offices (on the left) and the new church (on the right). Down the centre of the picture is the sewer line which comes all the way down the hill, round the rectory fence and across and into the rectory septic tank.
That might seem a bit extreme - why not place a tank close to the church? Well, we have now heard that the Municipality is going to lay a new sewer line down the N2 at the bottom of the property to service the new Tiffany shopping complex. When they do that we will run our line down the northern edge of the property. So we are looking ahead!


Finally, here is a story which we have not told, really because it was a bit embarrasing. The original design for the foundations of the church called for steel reinforcing. However, just before we placed the order for the steel, the concrete supplier asked whether we would not like to use a new product which has chopped strands mixed in the concrete, and which does away with the need for steel. Ever interested in saving money sensibly, we checked out the product and got a very favourable report on it. So no steel was ordered, the concrete was poured and in due course the columns were built. One member of the team woke up in the middle of one night realising that we had made a terrible mistake - although we did not need steel in the foundations, we DID need steel in the columns! And we had omitted to include the steel in the columns. We went straight to Mike J., our engineer, and he suggested that we build buttresses against the columns, and include steel reinforcing. This we have now done, starting with a foundation block, in which the steel is included, and then a hollow box into which concrete was poured. These butresses will be plastered aand so merge into the overall design.


As I end, I would like to ask for your prayers for protection over both 'old' and 'new' All Souls. Last week the sound desk and CD player were stolen from 'old' All Souls and this last weekend a labourer walked off the site of 'new' All Souls with an angle grinder and an electric saw. Petty, but annoying!

Bless you all, and thank you for your prayers -
"Unless the Lord builds the house, the builder labours in vain."

Monday 27th September 2010

Last night we had massive winds - you guessed it - the trusses were blown down!
A couple of pictures follow -
Please pray for Guy and Peter B as they sort out the mess.

Sunday 26th September 2010

I have to admit that I am feeling really bad - I set out with all the right motives to do something I knew others would value and then .... somehow other things have become more important and the days have flown past.
The nett result is that those of you who have been following the blog have missed out on much of the excitng stuff that has been happening over the past four weeks.
My task now is to help you catch up!

I have to say that the building team have been amazing. Under PC's direction they have dug, built, mixed concrete, plastered and kept the project well ahead of schedule. Last week the roof trusses for the kitchen/coffee shop/entrance/office block arrived and Guy's team started hauling them up onto the wall plates - here's a picture of the office block.



(That is the new rector's office at the right-hand end)

On the public holiday Johnnie P. had the place all to himself and so got the electrical circuits wired. He has done a great job. I have to show you what the DB looks like.



The roof of the hall/church has been causing us some worries which I think are now on the way to resolution, thanks to a engineering friend in the roofing business.

I think the saddest news is that we have drilled a dry borehole, tried again, and come up with 1400 litres an hour. We were hoping for 8000 litres (which they managed to find over at the new Spar site). We need something like that to water the 5.5 hectares.
That has meant that Peter M has not been able to plant the grass on the rolling hills. We are planning a 'water' meeting to discuss the way forward - this will involve all those needing water for their various project.

Please keep praying for Peter B. as he runs the project - it is quite a task keeping all the balls in the air!

11th September 2010

Much has been happening!
I will let the pictures tell the story

Monday 23rd August 2010

Here we are back in business again!
Having spent 10 days out of the parish, we came back to find that the foundations had been poured and that the builders have been very busy. The walls are now 'growing' as you can see from the picture above - all very exciting!
Not quite so exciting has been the borehole, which unfortunately proved to be dry - all the way down to 150 metres. The drill has been moved and I think we are going to try to drill in another location which the drilling man says is far more promising.
Denis' veggie garden is growing, despite the close attention of the Egyptian geese. The spinach, caabbage, carrots and celery all doing well - well done Denis!

Sunday 8th August 2010 - Author's note

I will be away for the next ten days.
When I get back I hope to be able to post pictures of the walls rising from foundations!
Please keep praying for the building team - Peter B, John, Angela and the builder PC.

6th August 2010 - The church foundations

The building team have been hard at work today finishing off the foundations. The picture shows the Phase 1 church. It looks so small!

4th August 2010 - The Foundations

I hope that at last we are back on line with the blog. Sorry about the break - it just happened!
Since the last major posting much has happened.
As you can see from the photo the earthworks are more-or-less complete, the surveyor, Rohan Kullin, has laid out the pegs, the foundations marked out and now the men are happily digging away.
The landscaping is progressing under Peter Mako's watchful eye and the rough heaps of soil are beginning to take on gentler shapes. Peter tells me that he will be planting grass which, with plenty of water and fertiliser, will be 'looking better than any lawn' within four months.
Peter B. has been ordering in the concrete for next week and soon the cement and building blocks will be delivered. Peter has been on site every day supervising the progress.
These are exciting times!

3rd August 2010 Look what just arrived!!!

Dear Rob

Great news – our early commencement permission is through!!! We are building legal.

Cheers
Angela

Much more news to follow now that we have our Internet hassles under control

22nd July 2010

Thanks for the request for Photographs - they will follow!

22nd July 2010

Having had my fingers burnt and my knuckles rapped over the usage of the Internet, I will now prepare what I want to say in MSWord and then copy and paste.

Over the past week there has been a big change on the building site.
The new gates are in place and the fence is ON.
The platform for the buildings has been cut at level 87 (87 meters above sea level?) and the car-park at the back of the site is nearing completion. It slopes from the entrance gate down towards the Salt Rock Road side of the site so that one can easily walk into the complex.
Today and tomorrow the road leading down past the offices to the Rectory will be moved about three meters closer to the office fence, so that the final cut can be made to the building platform.
On the west of the platform – the view side – Peter B has had a mound constructed onto which the Rugged Cross is going to be moved. This means that it will be a focal point from the complex verandahs.
Peter Matkovich is busy with concepts for the landscaping of the property and is also pushing hard for the new borehole.
In front of the Rectory Denis Fortune and his band of gardeners have been creating an amazing vegetable patch which is now planted with 2000 seedlings! Soon there will be carrots, cabbages, beetroot, celery, etc. in profusion. Of some concern are some new arrivals – a pair of Egyptian geese – who seem to have settled on the vegetable area as their evening ‘roost’, I do hope they don’t view the veggie patch as ‘meals on wheels’! Denis has also brought the little ‘Wendy house’ up from the church and placed it on the veggie patch site – makes it look like a very English allotment and not at all unpleasing to the eye.

19th July 2010

I am afriad that I have discovered one of the big drawbacks of blogging - you use a LOT of gigs.
We have been wondering why it is that we are being 'capped' on a too-frequent basis and have discovered that loading pictures is the challenge. On top of that we have a wireless link between the office (the source of the ADSL line) and the rectory. The direct line is through a coral tree, which I aam told is not good as wood and leaves absorb radio waves. All of which means more 'whatevers' are gobbled up.
We are going to change to a new service provider who is going to give us ADSL 'uncapped' at less than we have been paying our present provider, so soon we will have pictures again.
Until then I am afraid you will have to visit the site to see what is going on! Sorry Peter H. - just keep on praying for us!

More blog follows later.

15th July 2010 at 10.30pm

Just walked the dogs - we have had 15mm rain!
Great for Dennis Fortune and his vegetable ministry!
Going to be interesting watching the machinery tomorrow!

15th July 2010

No photograph today, tho' I must admit it would have been good to have taken a few. The guys on the machines worked flat out all day and the "87" platform on which the Phase 1 project is going to be built has more-or-less been completed.
Tomorrow the men will make a start on the "88" platform on which the carpark will be situated.
I am amazed at the sheer volume of soil that is being moved.
I was chatting with Andrew Slevin whose company is doing the earth-moving, he told me that the the reason that the pile of removed soil looks so much greater than the hole from which it was taken, is that, when the soil is loosened it takes up 1.4 times the space it took up when it was undisturbed. We have a veritable mountain of the stuff which Peter B is going to have spread out for the landscapers to get busy with.
Why no photos? The wind - and how it blew! Nett result is that there is dust EVERYWHERE!

14th July 2010

As you can see from the main picture work has now started in earnest as the platform for Phase 1 is dug.
The soil is being removed to the far corner of the site where it will be stock-piled until it is needed for fill for Phase 2.
The topsoil haas been saved and will be used for the landscaping of the property once the platform is complete and the building gets underway.
The new gates will be arriving today or tomorrow, so the site will soon be secure. Last night we had a night-watchman guarding the machines as diesel theft is rife.

This is an exciting, but dusty, time!

12th July 2010 - The project team

Here is the team -
Rob (author), Peter Berkley (site manager), Angela Plekker (architect), John Cook (project leader) and Keith Duane (finance)

12th July 2010 - Turning the first sod

This morning we turned the first sod.
Sadly Bishop Rubin was unable to be with us.
We (about 30 of us) enjoyed the time of prayer and blessing and digging out the first sod near the foot of the rugged cross.
The spot we chose was approximately where the altar in the Phase 1 church will be. Here is one of the prayers we prayed -
Almighty God, the heavens cannot contain you, yet you are pleased to dwell in the midst of your people, and, through your Holy Spirit, you have moved us to set apart a space on which to build a house of prayer.
Accept and bless the work which we have now begun, that it may be brought to completion to the honour and glory of your Holy Name
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever.
After the service and photographs we escaped out of the wintry wind into the offices and enjoyed coffee and muffins, thanks to the Waterberry.

9th July 2010 - IMPORTANT INVITATION

You are invited to join us on Monday morning at 8.00am for prayer on the new site.

The earth-moving machinery is due to start work once the surveyor - Rohan Kullin has completed laying out the pegs.

Bishop Rubin will be joining us for the prayers and will symbolically "turn the first sod".

8th July 2010 - Look what arrived today!

Now we are getting closer to the exciting part!

8th July 2010

Yesterday the site was a hive of activity!
The containers arrived and were placed in their locations.
There are two containers - one is located at the top of the site, near where all the building will happen. It is to be the accomodation container for the members of the builder's team who will live on site during the building operation to act as guards for all the material that will be on site.
The other container is located between the rectory and the offices and will be a storage container to be used as a change-room for - the men clearing the grounds, the gardeners, and the guys who are going to start making the loffelstein-type bricks for supporting the banks. We are planning to run a hosepipe to the container and fit a sink so that the men will be able to wash at the end of their working day. Two porta-loos are also going to be delivered to the site.

Meanwhile our very own vegatable ministry, run by Denis Fortune, is well underway in front of the rectory. Ground has been cleared and the soil turned in preparation for the planting of seeds. Denis is planning to use about an acre of ground to grow vegetable for sale to church members.

The electric fence has been completed and today, after the final connections were made, has been 'energised'.

The young men clearing the ground have been working very hard cutting down weeds and brush. There are piles lying drying ready to be burnt when they are dry.

Peter B really is doing a great job getting all the preliminaries done.

Angela has been trying to 'energise' the Muncipality into giving permission to start the earthworks - but to no avail ... yet.
Peter has asked Rohan Kullin, the surveyor, to come and mark out the platform for us, which he will do early next week.
Nigel Slevin is due to bring his machinery on site on Monday (12th).

As you can see we are 'poised for action'!

6th July 2010 - Letter to the Muncipality

I am posting this in full as it tells that things really ARE happening!

Dear Njabulo

UMHLALI ANGLICAN CHURCH – plan no 10/07/580

Permission to Start Earthworks

With regard to our conversation earlier today, please find above the Plan number for the submission which was lodged on Monday this week - 5 July 2010.

We are hoping the council can assist us by allowing us to commence with the earthworks portion of the project. Since our earlier meeting in Feb this year, the rezoning has been finalized, and now we have been able to formally submit the plans.

As discussed we are still hopeful of getting greatly reduced earthworks rates from one of the church parishioners. This is Nigel Slevin, who is still working in the near vicinity, but is expecting to have to relocate his plant shortly. Your assistance in this regard will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Angela Plekker
EWALD PLEKKER ARCHITECTS

4th July 2010

The final submission document was signed by Mike Jahnig at lunchtime.
Tomorrow we will submit to the Municipality.

(Today we met our new Rector and his wife - Peter and Clare Houston - they will be starting in the parish on 1st April 2011)

30th June 2010

I wonder if I could encourage you 'register' as a follower of this blog. It is good to know that folk are reading the blog.
On the right-hand side of the page you will see a button 'Follow'... just click on it and follow the prompts.

Also, don't be shy about 'comment'ing, or asking questions. At the end of each posting you will see the word 'comments' - just click on it, a text box will appear, and you type in whatever you want to say - easy!

30th June 2010

OK - you can breathe again!!!!!!

Yesterday afternoon Bishop Rubin had a meeting with Bill van Dongen (our Churchwarden), regarding other parish business, and passed on all the submission documents and plans which he had signed. We are on our way!

Now we need to get the docs to Angela (the architect) so that she can prepare them for the Muncipality (the plans need to be coloured in).
Over the weekend Mike Jahnig will sign the engineering sections.
And then the whole lots goes into the Municipality for approval.
There are varying stories about how long approval takes, but apparently permission to start the earthworks can be given quickly.
Now we lots of prayer please!

Meanwhile out on the site things are happening fast.
Peter Berkely is doing a great job moving forward with the preliminary stuff - ordering the storage and accomodation containers and supervising the three youngsters who are clearing the grass and scrub from the building site. We have bought a new 'Springkaan' - a three wheeled industrial mower which chows through the undergrowth with amazing speed - and with this and the bush-cutter the site will soon be cleared.
Peter also discovered that heavy-duty paving blocks were being sold off at a local development site at a fraction of their normal cost, so bought 400 sq. metres of them ... it all makes savings!
Rob Wacher is erecting the electric fence and has reached more-or-less the half-way mark.

Financially, we are so humbled as folk drop off cheques and make deposits into our bank account.
How the Lord is blessing us!
Please pray that we keep our eyes on Him and that every cent is spent in the way He wants it spent.

Please keep the Project Team in your prayers - John Cook, Angela Plekker, Peter Berkeley and Keith Duane.

25th June 2010

Submission documents safely delivered to the Diocesan office.
Tracy, the Bishop's secretary, will call when they have been signed - Monday/Tuesday?

24th June 2010

So here we are bowling along at a good pace!
The fence is being erected the normal cost and that is moving smootly.
Peter heard that the 400 sq. meters of pavers at the site of Seaton Delaval were up for grabs at 25% of their cost, so we have invested in them for the 'skirts' of the building.

John Cook has been spending time with Angela Plekker preparing all the submission documents for the Municipality. Tomorrow they will be taken to the Bishop's office for signature, and next week they will be submitted.

It is coming together!
Keep trusting!
Unless the Lord builds the house ....

22nd June 2010 - Confession time

I have to confess that the frustrations have been getting to me and I fear that in expressing them I have been very negative.
This morning I wrote this prayer which I share with you. Orginally it was written in the first person, but I changed it to include us all.

Today Lord we say “Enough”

Enough of allowing Satan to ‘white ant’ us
Enough of allowing ourselves to be the victim
Enough of seeing this wonderful, faithful part of God’s Kingdom being frustrated

Enough of wanting our timing
Enough of making our plans

Enough of seeing the Bishop and the Trustees in a negative light
Enough of seeing the bureaucratic failings of the local Municipality
Enough of seeing the human-ness of those who let us down

Enough of allowing the negatives to quench the Holy Spirit

Enough of simply saying “Unless the Lord builds the house ...”
From today we live it

Less of us Lord
More of You

21st June 2010 - A phone call from the Bishop

Bishop Rubin called this morning.
He has asked me to fax the signed undertakings to him and assured me that they will be ‘for his eyes only’.
He also would like me to fax a copy of the schedule of fees we received from the Municipality.
He agrees that the submission to the Municipality must happen as soon as possible as he wants us to get going as soon as possible. When the plans and submission documents are ready I must take them to his home and he will sign them. (John Cook tells me that Angela’s office will only have them ready by Thursday, so I will arrange to see Bishop Rubin on Friday).
Bishop Rubin explained to me why it was that the Trustees needed to have assurances regarding the financing of the project – citing cases where parishes had failed in their building projects through a lack of funds.

We finished the conversation confirming that I would send him the documents and take him the submission documents and plans for his signature. I asked him whether the delegation would still be necessary, and he said that he did not think so, repeating that he wants the project to go ahead as soon as possible.

21st June 2010 - What an amazing parish!!!!

As you, dear reader, can imagine there has been much disappointment in the parish.
However, the emotion has been quickly dealt with, the wisdom of the Trustees understood and action has been taken.

Our response to the Trustees’ concerns:
a) The submission fees to Kwadukuza Municipality.
I have in my possession a photocopy of the fees structure of the Kwadukuza Municipality, which includes an item “Any Place of Worship where permission has been granted for public assembly and where buildings are used for worship purposes ...... No charge”
This photocopy was obtained by John Cook from the Kwadukuza Municipality last Friday morning.

b) The R605,000.00 to be raised within the parish.
Bill van Dongen reported back to the parish at both the 7.00am and 9.00am services yesterday morning.
By yesterday evening Bill and I had received the following -

i. A signed undertaking from a parishioner to cover any shortfall not exceeding R450,000.00;
ii. An signed undertaking from a parishioner to cover any shortfall not exceeding R170,000.00;
These undertakings total R620,000.00, which is R15,000.00 in excess of the amount required.
iii. Five pledges from parishioners totalling R350,000.00, which will be deposited in our account by the end of the month;
iv. One pledge of R200,000.00 which will be paid into our account when the funds are required;

This means that, apart from the two undertakings to cover the overall shortfall in full, we have raised R550,000.00, leaving a sum of R55,000.00 to be raised from the rest of the parish. I am sure that you will agree with me that in view of the generosity of a few in the space of one day, this amount will be raised very quickly.

What a blessing!

I have written a letter to the Bishop and, please Lord, the permission to start the project will be forthcoming.

17th June 2010

At 8.30pm this evening I received a call from Robin Greenwood – the Diocesan Administrator.
Bishop Rubin asked him to call me to inform me of the Diocesan Trustees’ decision regarding our building project.

The Trustees have NOT approved our project as they have concerns which they wish to raise with us.

A delegation led by Bishop Nkosinathi and including Robin and two other trustees will come to the parish to meet with the project team and discuss the two concerns they have –
a) The funding of the R605,000 shortfall, and
b) The cost of submitting the plans to the Municipality.

The delegation has been charged to help us resolve the concerns and report back to the next meeting of the Diocesan Trustees which will meet on the 26th August.

I asked Robin whether, as the concerns regard the financial aspects of the project we could assemble all the Municipal submission documents and get them to Bishop Rubin for signature – as Chairman of the Trustees he has to sign all the documents.
Robin told me that it would not be possible as Rubin is leaving on his sabbatical on Tuesday – flying overseas for five weeks.


My thoughts
1. Why send a ‘delegation’ headed by a bishop to discuss two issues which we could resolve ourselves? Is there another agenda?
2. If we have to delay for two months we are not going to complete the church by the end of March 2011.
3. Is the Lord, who builds the house, closing a door?

This is SO VERY frustrating, especially as the Bishop had assured Bill and Carol that the Trustees meeting was just a rubber stamp.
I am angry that the Bishop, although he has continuously assured us that he is right behind the project and that he wants to see us get underway as soon as possible, then does not deliver.
He gave me the go-ahead to get onto the site ages ago - 19th JANUARY!!!!!! - and here we are 5 months later, still without the official 'Go'

16th June 2010

Psalm 139:16b reads: "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be".
Both last night's meeting of the Parish Council and this morning's meeting of the Churchwardens and Elders, were affirmed by that Scripture. As we continually remind ourselves that "Unless the Lord builds the house .." we are aware that God has a plan for each one of us as we fit together into what makes up His Church. The amazing thing is that before we even began the church building project He already knew what we would be doing, when we would be meeting and what challenges we would be facing.
Despite the challenges we face the leadership of the parish are today feeling very positive about the future of the building project.

We have looked at the concerns expressed by the Diocesan Planning Committee and have decided that we can meet the concerns. As far as the R170,000 'loan to the Diocese' is concerned, we have agreed to leave that money where it is and use it for its stated purpose - caring for parishioners in need. This means that the shortfall of R434,689 will have to be increased by R170,000 - roughly R605,000

We are also looking how we address the concern for a 'Registered Builder' to be in charge of the project and have come up with a couple of solutions. Whatever happens, Peter Berkely will be the Clerk of Works on the site.

Monday 14th June 2010

I do apologise to the readers of this blog for the lack of information over the past week.
It has been a week of very interesting ups and downs.
The exciting news that the project has been approved by the Diocesan Planning Committee, was tempered by the letter which duly arrived from Arnie Glasspoole outlining the 'concerns' the Planning Committee have about the project.
It was interesting that, when Bill and Carol met with the Bishop, the Bishop brushed off the concerns as minor and easily resolved.

Anyway, in the spirit of transparency, here is the content of the letter -

1. Has the long-standing parishioner confirmed his/her commitment in writing to underwrite the minimum amount of R434 689.00 required to complete the initial project budget?

2. Please could you clarify what is termed “Loan to the Diocese called in for the building fund”. The Diocesan Secretary’s records show that an amount similar to that quoted under “Funds available” is invested with the Diocese and that this came in the main from an anonymous donation in 1998 “for the needy which was to be administered by the Churchwardens”. Such funds may only be released on a motivated application to the Diocesan Trustees.


3. How has the parish been able to arrange “free” submission fees with the Municipality? Has this being received in writing? The concern here being that this may result in an additional cost should the Municipality backtrack on a verbal undertaking.

The Committee expressed real concern about undertaking the project on the “owner builder” basis based on the magnitude of the project. The concerns here were centred on:

• whether there will be adequate project supervision on a voluntary basis and whether a Project Supervisor should be appointed to ensure efficient building progress?
• Do the various estimates adequately allow for or take into account the effects of inflation and any major unforeseen costs as the project develops?

Arnie's letter ends -
"The Committee fully realises the urgency with which the parish wishes to action this project and therefore asks that you give these concerns your urgent attention."

We will work on this points this week and submit our answers.

10th June 2010

What a day!

Rejoicing in the news that the Planning Committee had given the go-ahead for the project, I phoned Arnie Glasspoole to find more on the 'concerns' that the Bishop had mentioned to Bill.

All very secretive, because the Planning Committee had asked Arnie to write the letter, but the Bishop had told Arnie not to send the letter to us, but rather send it to him so that he could check it out (because he is handling this project). The Bishop would then send us the letter.

So, what were the concerns? (off the record)

1. Robin Greenwood (Diocesan Administrator) freaked out when he saw that we were intending to with draw the loan from the Diocese and went off to investigate. It turns out that we do have money lodgesd with the Diocese, but it is not a loan. The money was an anonimous donation given to the parish for the care of the needy, and is under the direct responsibility of the churchwardens. The money has lain in an account for years gathering interest, probably because nobody knew it was there. To obtain this money for the building fund we have to hold a Vestry meeting for the congregation to agree to the funds being used for somthing other that the original intention. This resolution must be submitted to the Diocesan Trustees for their approval. IF they agree then the money can be used for the building fund.

2. The Diocese is wary of allowing 'owner/builder' projects, especially of the value of our project. The case quoted was the hall built for Phoenix. The parish started the project with great gusto and then the rector was moved to another parish. The congregation was unsettled and interest in the project fizzled out leaving the hall 80% finished. It now stands derilict some years later and the parish would dearly love to complete it, but haven't got the money.
There muust be a lesson in this ... don't move the rector when there is a building project!

3. We have only allowed a 4% contingency of R110,000. The Planning Committee feels that this is too low as prices will rise during the course of the project. The result will be that we run short of money.

4. Our financial motivation showed that the shortfall between 'cash in hand' and the building cost had been underwritten by a parishioner. The concern raised - has this undertaking been given in writing and signed by the parishioner concerned?

5. The Planning Committee are concerned that with a project of this size wwe should have a registered builder. I felt that what they are actually saying, despite our assurances that we have a professional team, is that theey are not happy witth Peter Berkeley heading up the building team. I pointed out that if we were to have a registered builder the cost of the project would shoot up to the R8.0 mark again.

Arnie expressed his concern that while we are trying to sort out these 'concerns' of the Planning Committee, the prices are going to go up and we are going to get caught having to use our contingency. (see 3 above!)

The final shot was that we has to resolve all these issues and have them documented and ready for the meeting of the Trustees next week.

This is really frustrating!

9th June 2010

Well, today is the first of the two days we have all been waiting for.
This morning the Diocesan Planning Committee meets. I understand that they have a huge amount of work to process - each item representing the hopes and dreams of parishes in the Diocese. One can understand why it is that there is a Diocesan Planning Sub-Committee to ensure that all is in order for the main meeting.
The last time our project was presented to the Planning Committee a number of queries were raised - basically asking where was the money coming from and also asking for an explaination of our proposed building methods.
Since then we have written and re-written the motivations and as the Bishop is happy wih what we have said and done, I am sure the project will be passed by the Planning Committee.
Next step - the Diocesan Trustees for the final rubber stamp of approval (next week on the 17th)!

7th June 2010

Today we employed two young men (a third will join them tomorrow) to start the hard work of clearing the trees and high grass along the route to be taken by the electric fence. Much chopping, grunting, pulling, etc. and the piles of wood are growing. Thought that we might have a serious "Guy Fawkes" night, but maybe it would be better to get the wood gatherers to come and take away the firewood for the local informal settlement.
We have a problem with men doing a full day's work. They start at 7.00am and finish at 4.00pm, but the office is only open from 8.00 to 2.00. They men were told to leave their tools, overalls and boots inside our security fence when they finished this afternoon .... much to Rupert's delight. What self-respecting young labrador would turn up the chance of a pile of new toys? Fortunately Sarah and I got home shortly after 4.00, so he had not managed to play with all the "toys" ... just a pair of boots and a cold-drink bottle.
We are eventuaally going to have an accomodation container with porta-loos on the site for the workmen and builders, but that is still a few weeks off yet.
Right, now to Plan B!

5th June 2010

I told Peter this morning that the waiting is killing me!
We have to wait for the Planning Committee (meeting on the 9th) to OK everything and send the motivation on to the Board of Trustees meeting on the 17th).
Deep down inside I know that the Planning Committee are already happy with our proposals and that the Trustees have already given a qualified "OK" depending on whether we can raise the funds for the building ... so it should all be plain sailing ..(click) .. plain sailing ..(click) .. plain sailing.

Now we get down to the realities - if we are about building God's house and He is the one who is building it - why am I so tense? - why can I not trust Him to bring His project to fulfilment? Must be the human, unsurrendered side of me.
I think it was Augustine that prayed "O Lord I believe, forgive my unbelief".

3rd June 2010

Both the motivation for the way we are going to building the new church, and the financial plan were delivered onto Arnie Glasspoole's desk at 10.00 this morning.
He confirmed that he now has everything he needs for the Diocesan Planning Committee meeting and the Trustees meeting.
(The Lord has it all in hand)

2nd June 2010

I was told this morning that an elderly man was mugged while walking past the property yesterday eveing. The muggers were youngsters who stole the old man's groceries and money.
This causes me some concern because we are running the new footpath through the trees on the edge of the property - scenic and cool, but perhaps a hangout for muggers.
Maybe we are going to have to change the positioning of the footpath to alongside the road where it will be in full view of the passing traffic.

2nd June 2010

Meant to mention yesterday ...
While we were having the finance / motivation meeting, Keith pointed out that we had not made any provision in the budget for fees for submitting the plans to the Municipality.
John phoned Angela and asked her for a rough figure - she said that she had no idea and would phone the Planning Office.
Ten minutes later she came back to tell us that, as we are a church, the submission is FREE!
WOW again!

1st June 2010

The morning started with a call to Arnie Glasspoole to ensure that we would have all the right documents for the Diocesan Planning Committee meeting. He assured me that, as he has the plans, costs etc. all we need to do is provide a motivation for building the church in the way we intend to build it, and a financial doccument showing how we are going to pay for the project.

Later in the morning Keith, John, Peter B and Rob met to tidy up the documents for the Diocese. We agreed on the financial checks and balances to be followed during the puchasing of materials. We also agreed to open an account with one of the building suppliers.

The path is progressing well. Peter is waiting on quotes for the electric fence.

Monday 31st May 2010

Today we received a truck-load of gravel for the new foot-path.
The men have been doing a great job cutting back the trees and clearing for the path. They have also been clearing the perimeter for the electric fence.

Sunday 30th May 2010

Sunday 30th May - a great day!!!

We presented the financial plans to the congregation.

The building which we are going to build is not going to cost R17 million (November 2008), or R8.2 million (March 2010), but R3,125,000.

That last figure represents R2.8 million to complete the building, and R325,000 to equip it with all the extras - media, sound, carpets, kitchen fittings, landscaping etc.

How do we fund it?
We have R2.2 million in the bank, and
We can recall a loan we made to the Diocese of R170,000
Total - R2,370,000 cash in hand

We need to raise R430,000 to complete the building, and then the R325,000 for the extras.

The 'praising God' good news is that a parishioner has underwritten the R430,000!

Now we prepare the final building and financial motivations for the Diocesan Trustees. They have to be in on this Friday - 4th June for the Diocesan Planning Committee meeting (on 09 June 2010), and the Diocesan Trustees meeting (on 17 June 2010).

26th May 2010

I met with Keith and discussed the costs of the project and the impact on the parish finances.

Keith offered to calculate the figures needed to present the project to the parish on Sunday 30th May.

26th May 2010

Peter and I measured the correct length for the fence, walking the entire perimeter.

21st May 2010

Later I met with John Cook and John offered to write a draft motivation for the Planning Committee, which we agreed would be circulated to all the team members for comment.
The Motivation contained much of the information contained in this blog.

21st May 2010

I met with Peter Berkley who has offered to be the Project Manager for the project

After much discussion we felt that we should suggest to the team that the following steps to be taken over the next two weeks –
a. We continue with the cutting and building of the new foot-path on the eastern and south-eastern side of the property;
b. We ask Arthur Mallandain, using his tractor and mower, to cut the entire property. We should be prepared to pay for this work;
c. The team agree on the extent and positioning of the new security fence and gate for the property;
d. We obtain quotes for the fence and the labour to erect it;
e. Once we are agreed on the price, we install the fence.

The above – foot-path and fence – are not dependant on us being given the go-ahead either by the Municipality or the Diocese, as we are simply securing the property. Some Council members might remember that Bishop Rubin gave an instruction that an electric fence had to be erected before the Joblings moved into the Rectory; this was not seen as necessary then, but now the time is right!

In the meantime –
a. the team should prepare the motivation for the Planning Committee;
b. we should chase the re-zoning process with the Municipality as this is needed before the Municipality will grant us access to the site;

With regard to the Planning sub-committee’s concerns regarding the financing of the project, Rob needs to meet with Keith to discuss -
a. The cash we have in the bank - R2,250,000?
b. The difference that is needed between that balance and what is required

With regard to the Planning sub-committee’s concern for a “Dedicated project management” we should -
a. Designate John Cook to be the “Project Manager” as he has all the necessary credentials; and
b. Designate Peter Berkley to be “Site Manager” as, although we have complete trust in him, his CV might not contain the experience that the Trustees would expect of a project manager.
c. It should be pointed out to the Trustees that John Cook and Angela Plekker are qualified architects, Mike Jahnig and Graham Porteous are qualified engineers, and that Keith Duane is a qualified Accountant.

20th May 2010

We received a letter from Arnie Glasspoole, the Diocesan Property Manager

The revised plans and construction estimates which were passed on to the Plans Sub-committee by Bishop Rubin were considered at the meeting on 19 May 2010.

The plans themselves were recognised as what could be termed Stage 1 of the previously submitted total scheme and, of course, no comment or suggested amendment was made. The construction estimates were not accompanied by any written explanation and the sub-committee therefore had to work on the basis of Mr. Keith Alcock’s description of the discussions that took place during the meeting with your committee to discuss a way forward which seemed to agree on undertaking the project on an “owner builder” basis.

With the knowledge of the sad past history of “owner builder” projects in the Diocese, members of the sub-committee were extremely cautious with regard to the figures quoted in terms of:

1. The ability to maintain the prices.
2. Who would provide dedicated project management?
3. A guarantee that this phase can be completed?

However the project will be carried forward to the Property Committee on 09 June 2010 to consider and take a decision on whether to recommend the project to the Diocesan Trustees.

However you are kindly requested, in the interests of ease of understanding at the Property Committee meeting, to provide me with a further written explanation/motivation of the parishes intention to finance and to undertake this stage of the whole development. Mr. Alcock understood that the parish had accumulated funds amounting to approximately R2,5 mil which would fund the major portion of the anticipated costs but the Committee will want the whole scheme to be clearly spelled out both in practice and financially.

Please will you let me have this by no later than midday on Friday, 4 June 2010 to enable me to circulate to the committee members prior to the meeting itself.

It is Bishop Rubin’s intention that the parish is given support for the project and I would therefore also not want the process to be delayed by not having any necessary documentation with me at the meeting. I hope that you understand.

Arnie Glasspoole

17th May 2010

On Monday 17th May 2010 I met with the Bishop and presented the revised Church plans.
I explained how we had seriously considered the ‘economic’ building of the new church and so had cut the cost of the new building (Phase 1) to R2.8 million.

We discussed the three major areas in which costs had been cut -
a.Foundations;
b.“Owner builder” sourcing of materials and roof at best prices;
c.No profit margin.

Bishop Rubin was very affirming of the work we had done and expressed his desire for the project to get under way.

12th April 2010

On 12th April Angela Plekker, Mike Jahnig and John Cook met to review the original design and incorporating the construction methods recommended by Mike Jahnig, which had been endorsed at the meeting with Keith Alcock.

Mike proposed that we only build within areas of cut and this was possible for the whole of phase one. Cut material would be stock piled for land shaping and landscaping. It would also be used in control of stormwater for berms and creating localized attenuation dams.

With the amendments it is now possible to install the security fence in a gum pole and electric wire system very economically including a new sliding gate at the entrance. The meeting proposed this be carried out immediately following the recent attempted break in at the Church Office. Budget Estimate R 50,000.00 (Phase One only)

The foundations will be strip foundations, nominally reinforced only.

06 May 2010

On the 06 May 2010 I wrote to the Bishop

Thank you for your encouraging e-mail.
Yes, it was good that the professional evaluator came up with the evaluation of R1.9 million.
I felt that the professional men in the parish also felt encouraged – they were saying the value of the property was between R1.8 million and R2.0 million, so it was R2,000 well spent to make it ‘official’.

With regard to the progress of the new church, we are in the process of -
a) Making the alterations to the architectural drawings to adapt them to the more economical building style, and
b) Putting together the specific quotations for the earthworks, buildings, roofs, electrical work, etc.
We hope that we will have the complete ‘package’ ready to bring to you for your approval in the last week of this month.
On the financial side, our target is still in the region of R2.3 million, however, as so often happens there will no doubt be additional costs which will surface.

Whilst the bulk of the costs will be covered by the R2.0 million held in the investment account; we feel certain that the balance will be covered by parishioners once the project gets underway. It has been interesting to see that, although we have not mentioned any form of fund-raising, R250,000 has already been given for the project since Easter.

Rob

6th May 2010

On the 06 May 2010 the Bishop wrote

Dear Rob
Thank you very much for the professional valuation of the present church property. While 1.9 million is a generous amount, I would have thought that it is of great value. That’s why it is good to deal with the professionals.
+ Rubin

1st April 2010

On the 1st April we met with the Diocesan architect, Keith Alcock

Keith confirmed that the Bishop had asked him to meet with the New Church Building Committee and appraise himself of the proposals and the Diocesan concerns and process to be followed.

Rob gave a summary of the interim steps taken by the committee to address the concerns raised in a letter from Arnie Glasspoole prior to the meeting with the Bishop. He confirmed that the Bishop had endorsed the plans and was very pleased with the overall imagery but had asked Keith A to meet with the committee.

Rob reported on the interim work done with Mike Jahnig to revise the method of building, using local people to manage and supervise the work usually undertaken by the main contractor, simplifying the construction methods and firming up sub contract and pc sums prices.

Mike J then outlined the essentials of the revised scheme, the method of construction and the financial impact. He highlighted the main cost items:
• Foundation design
• Structural system
• Roof construction
• Simple design capable of being constructed but small builders

Mike pointed out that the tenders were based on piled foundations, whilst Mike’s proposal as a Civil Engineer was to cut to reduced levels and used reinforced strip foundations and slab. The main walls would be constructed from blockwork with blockwork shuttered reinforced concrete piers at 4m centres. The roof construction would be standard scissors trusses with the ceiling being on the top of the trusses with concrete roof tiles.

Mike then tabled a draft estimate / budget indicating that the phase one consisting of the Hall (Phase One Church), Coffee Shop, Kitchen, Ablutions, covered walkways and two Sunday School Classrooms could be built for approximately R 2.369m.

Keith A emphasized that the final business estimates must include all professional fees. He was assured that all professional fees incurred to date had been paid or were in the course of being paid and that Angela had received payment for her first invoice.

23rd March 2010

The Bishop met with the Churchwardens, Council, the Elders and Mike Jarnig

The Bishop assured the meeting that he was convinced that there was a rightness about relocating the church.
He stated that at the last Diocesan Planning Committee he had had an unease with the cost of the project and that he needed to meet and engage with the leadership of the Parish to get a deeper feel for the project.

Rob Jobling reported on what had happened since the Diocesan Planning Meeting.
He had met with Mike Jahnig, an engineer and parishioner, to ascertain what we can do with the R2m we have available for the project.

Mike Jahnig stated special attention had been given to the economy of the building; He would be meeting with Angela Plekker to look at modifying the design.

Bishop Rubin stated he is at peace about the project and believes that it is God’s way to move forward uncompromisingly.

As far as the 'old church building' is concerned, it does not need to be sold at present. A professional evaluaation will be obtained for the property.
Final decision on the sale of property rests with the Diocesan Trustees

Rob Jobling shared the vision that he has for a Pre–School to be built on the flat ground adjacent to the Rectory. This would bring young families into the ambit of the new church

Rob Jobling was commended for his untiring commitment to the project, for his guidance and his willingness to discuss, individually, the process with parishioners

Bishop Rubin expressed the sense of peace he has about the project and congratulated the Parish on their handling of it. He said that he was sold on the concept.

Bishop Rubin asked that Rob Jobling, John Cook and Mike Jahnig meet with Keith Alcock and the Planning Sub-Committee to discuss procedures. Keith Alcock will report to the Bishop

Bishop Rubin assured the Parish that we have his commitment to the project and said that if meetings needed to be called with Diocesan Committees he will treat them with an urgency to get the Project going.

14th March 2010

The Churchwardens and Elders met with Mike Jarnig for Mike to describe his concepts to them.

The budget looks like it could be in the region of R2 368 660.00 for Phase 1.

7th March 2010

I met with Mike Jarnig to ask him how he saw us moving forward.
Mike has said for a long time that we could build a lot more economically if we put our minds to it.
I gave him a set of plans and he offered to come up with an affordable budget.

8th March 2010

We received a response from the Diocesan Property Committee (that met on 04 March 2010) regarding our proposals for the new church .

The proposal was considered on both a technical and practical viewpoint. As with the Plans Sub-committee the design and building style features were generally found acceptable. However due to other concerns the plans were not given great attention. The Committee, including the Bishop, had a number of main concerns which were:

1. The high cost of the initial phase of the project,
2. The fact that 30% of the cost of Phase 1 is dependant on the sale of the present church premises without a formal valuation having been done and without having secured Diocesan approval,
3. The lack of detail of the parish’s fund-raising plans
4. The high cost of the project as a whole.

As a result of these concerns no formal approval could be given. It must be emphasised however that Bishop Rubin does not wish to convey any thought of rejection of the proposal but is wishing to be encouraging of it and wishing to assist in moving it forward carefully, acknowledging the importance of the development to the parish and ultimately to the Diocese.
Arising from this Bishop Rubin wishes to meet with the parish formally to become more au fait with the proposal and the parish’s thoughts and plans to proceed. He will of course make contact with you in due course.

You are requested to firstly, obtain a valuation of the existing church property and its surrounds and, secondly, to spell out the parish fund-raising plans in more detail. Once you have obtained the information you should include it in a revised business plan for Phase 1 for submission to the Diocese.

Arnie Glasspoole
PROPERTY MANAGER

1st March 2010

The Vestry meeting

At a spirited meeting the parish received the reports from the task team.
They expressed concern over the cost and the ability of the parish to raise the funds needed to build the new church.

The task team was mandated to review the building costs.

25th February 2010

The Tender Review Meeting

Our Q.S., Romano, told us that the lowest tender came was R8,351,500.00 excluding VAT, contingency and Fees
Cognizance of the tender from Nigel Slevin was included.

As this figure was higher than we had expected we discussed the potential savings we could make.
Following further discussion we finally agreed that the figure we would present to vestry would be R8,000,000.00. This would be R 7,500,000.00 building costs including VAT, Fees and contingencies and R 500,000.00 for furnishings and fixtures.

11th FEBRUARY 2010

Angela Plekker, John Cook and met with Jabulo (Building Inspector Kwadukuza) and Dumela (Planning Dept. Kwadukuza) at the Kwadukuza municipal offices in Ballito

The purpose of the meeting was to
•Update on the Rezoning Application, and
•Request permission to access the site and to commence earthworks

Jabulo confirmed that the recommendation to approve the rezoning application had been presented to, and approved by, the Portfolio Committee.
He did stress that there had been an objection to the rezoning by Mr Brian Strode related to our access to the site on a blind rise.

Jabulo did confirm that he could not approve any occupation of the site for the commencement of earthworks pending resolution of the objection.

9 February 2010

Helena Jacobs confirmed that the Kwadukuza Municipality has received the Rezoning Application and had considered it favourably. It is currently preparing the resolution for re-zoning which Helena has been led to believe is subject to two conditions:
•Approval by Department of Transport DOT re access
•Resolution of the issue raised by Brian Strode who objected in terms of an interested and affected party

Helena recommended that it would be critical that we take a copy of the KZN Wildlife endorsement of the EIA to the meeting being scheduled for Thursday 11 February 2010 with Njabula Building Inspector with the local authority.
The purpose of the meeting would be to determine whether we can gain early access to site and commence earthworks ahead of the full drawing submission.

5th February 2010

Keith recommended that we move R2,000,000 out of our reserves to a new fund for the New Church.
This was done.

2nd FEBRUARY 2010

On 2nd FEBRUARY 2010 John Cook and I met with Nigel and Andrew Slevin to review the cost of the earthworks for the new church site as defined by the site plan prepared by Angela Plekker and a schedule of Bulk Earthworks prepared by Mike Slabbert of Slabbert Associates dated 18 January 2010.

I confirmed that my policy was, wherever possible, to use local people and indeed members of the church when awarding contracts for the project. As such Nigel was considered a preferred bidder. It was also noted that we were out-to-tender on the Phase One of the development and that any appointment would be subject to final approval to proceed from the Diocese and the Ballito Municipality etc. together with the necessary funds being raised.

After discussion on the various rates for the earthworks Nigel and Andrew were requested to submit the priced schedule and a written motivation that would summarise their concerns re in-situ material and achieving the designated compaction figures required by the civil engineer.

29th January 2010

On the 29th Juanuary we motivated for the sale of the old church, but Bishop
Rubin was not happy. He later asked to obtain a professionaal evaluation of the property.

1st February 2010

Extracts from Keith's Business Plan in support of proposals for Phase 1 development of the new Church complex for All Souls Anglican Church.

Whilst the best estimate by the Quantity Surveyor of the total costs of Phase 1a (which include earthworks, fencing, parking etc) is between R6m to R7m, it is planned to go to tender shortly in order to obtain a more accurate cost. Those tendering will understand that no commitments can be made regarding acceptance until a later date.

Subject to approval from the Diocesan Trustees, we need to negotiate a sale of the existing All Souls Church property at a market related price and have received the funds. In this regard, we have had discussions with Umuzi Kwa Jesu an organization closely associated with our Parish, and which currently operates from the All Souls premises, They are very keen to acquire the property and a purchase price of between R1,8m and R2m has been suggested. This figure will have to be tested against the fair market value.

We do know that we have an amount of R1,6m of our funds presently available for the project. Assuming we realize say R1,8m from the sale of our present church complex, we would then need to raise some R2,6 to R3,6m to be able to proceed.

Taking the above factors into account , we plan to be cautious and proceed as
follows:

Once the tender prices from contractors are received we will be able to determine an actual cost figure which it may be possible to trim further by omitting certain aspects from the contract.
We will negotiate with the favoured contractor to delay acceptance until we have the required funds in our bank account.

The principle we have to adhere to is that a building contract can only be awarded and entered into once the funds in our bank account.

The project will be professionally supervised, our quantity surveyor being Romano Valenti and our architect, a local firm represented by Angela Plekker.
In addition, the Rector, supported by a team of parishioners led by John Cook who is also an architect , Keith Duane , a chartered accountant, and two others will monitor progress of the project.

We believe the move to the magnificent 5,5ha site will result in a continued growth in numbers joining our Parish, particularly amongst younger people with children who will be attracted by the park-like grounds of the complex.

26th January 2010

How do we pay for this project?
Our Quantity Surveyor has reckoned that the cost of Phase 1a will be in the region of R7 million.
At present we have in the region of R1.6 million in funds accumulated over the years for the new church project; the sale of the old church will, in present conditions, raise between R1.8 and R2.0 million. The fund-raising team have yet to begin work, but feels confident that a target of R2.0 million could be achieved.
It is worth noting that in the past every project started by this parish – churches, extensions, township church, purchases of houses, flats and land – has been achieved without the parish going into debt.
We trust that as we hold firm to the Scripture verse you will see on every plan – “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain” (Psalm 127:1) – the Lord will provide as He has done in the past and will do again in the future.

26th January 2010

On the 26th January 2010 we wrote a motivation for the new church for the Diocese.

The design shows the full development of the proposed plant – Church, Hall, Offices and a ‘coffee shop’ which, it is hoped, will be a venue for the community throughout the week.
It is our intention to phase the building program.
Phase 1a – all the earthworks, partial fencing, the Church Hall, which will seat 200, the adjacent toilets and the shell of the projected kitchen and coffee shop. Our plan is to use the hall as a place of worship and to use the shell of the kitchen and coffee shop for Sunday School and week-day meetings.
Phase 1b – The Main Entrance, the shell of the offices and the completion of the ‘coffee shop.’ The Sunday School would move into the shell of the offices allowing the coffee shop to become a community venue.
Phase 2 – the Church, Chapel, Offices and the second toilet block.
Phase 3 – the ‘meeting rooms’ situated along the walk-way to the north of the Hall.

21st December 2009

A letter from John Cook to the team :

Following a recent meeting last Friday morning it was agreed that in order to progress the project with a view to still going out to tender on 18 January 2010 that we limit the first phase budget to a maximum of R 6million exclusive of VAT.
The challenge to Angela and Romano is just what we can do with this budget constraint.

10th December 2009

On the 10th December John Cook wrote –

Romano (the QS) has re-measured in terms of the latest set of drawings, has adjusted the earthworks following our meeting with Mike Slabbert (the soil engineer) and taken out the parking area paving etc as we had discussed with him.

The net effect is that there is a saving of just in excess of One Million Rand, leaving a total cost for phase one of Nine Million Rand.
Following on from the discussions with Keith this remains well above a realistic budget and we will have to perhaps now meet to determine a realistic budget target, which can be given to Romano and Angela to recommend what could be built for the target. Please bear in mind this is still ex VAT of say another million.

Money reaaring its head again!

16th November 2009

John Cook wrote to Romano to tell him that we had not managed to make a plans submission to the Diocese as we had missed the relevant dates.
One thing we learned was that we would be obligated to go to tender and obtain three quotes.
Therefore we would have to :
• Prepare a proper Bill Of Quantities
• Select three tenderers including Mauro Peronovich (recommended by Mike Jarnig)
• Agree basis of Provisional and PC sums
• Agree tender dates to achieve the Diocesan Meetings
• Agree tender period
• Agree the adjudication process.

At this stage we still hoped to target commencement of works on site as early as possible - Possibly late March?

15th October 2009

To Rob from John Cook – 15th October (QS estimate )

Romano's (the Quantity Surveyor) estimate for Phase 1 - R11,441,400.00

Regards!

12th October 2009

On 12th October 2009 Sue George informed us that the environmental report was complete and would be included in the rezoning application from Helena Jacob’s office.

Norman Brauteseth was satisfied with the report.

1st July 2009

The bottom line is finance – this is what scuppered the previous project.
This time around I have been talking with Keith Duane and he is clear that, in simple terms, we calculate how much we can afford, then give that figure to Angela as the base on which she does her design work.

Keith's comment is that we R2,300,000 in the bank and that we have the old church building worth, say, R1,700,000 - so have about R4,000,000 for the project.

It was at this stage that we started to discuss the selling of the 'old' All Souls

25th June 2009

On 25th June Angela, John, Helena, Sue George and I met at Helena’s offices and began to reconstruct the Site Development Plan.
There were two major inputs from Sue –
1. The area of the wetland takes up almost a third of the bottom of the property. The aerial photographs of the site clearly show historic drainage ditches in the caneland.
This means that there can be no retirement cottages, or any other buildings, on the north east or south east corners of the property.
2. The planned widening of Sheffield Beach Road to a four-lane road means that the trees on the eastern boundary of the property will all be lost to the road reserve. Unfortunately we also have an ESCOM power line running over the eastern end of the property and that too needs a reserve.
The Site Development Plan now shows that, in case we were in any doubt, there is only one place where the church and ancillary buildings could be built!

Bishop Rubin saw the SDP on 24th June and was very happy with it.
He was impressed too with our vision for a Christian centre for the northern Dolphin Coast.

5th June 2009

On 5th June 2009 John, Angela, Helena and I met with Helena in her offices to begin reviewing the processes.
In order to be re-zoned, a number of documents have to be submitted. Among these is the EIA.
We learned from Helena that what with the plans we have for the property we would be able to avoid having to have to prepare a full EIA, and would instead simply require a “legal opinion” based on Section 28 of NEMA (National Environmental Management Act).
To prepare the documentation for Norman Brauteseth, the lawyer we have approached for the “opinion”, we agreed to employ an environmentalist, Sue George.

30th March 2009

On the 30th March a meeting, facilitated by Carol Church, was held in the Church Hall.
The meeting was attended by about twenty interested parishioners who shared their thoughts on the possible ways in which the project could proceed.
The meeting was also addressed by Angela who shared her vision for the new development.
At that meeting it was agreed that Angela Plekker, John Cook and I would start the project in conjunction with Helena Jacobs (Town & Regional Planner) to finalise the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) and the Municipal Re-zoning of the property from “Agricultural” to “Religious”.

18th February 2009

On the 18th February 2009 I approached our local architect Angela Plekker, and after an exchange of ideas we agreed that what might appeal to the congregation would be a church and ancillary buildings built along “farm-style” lines – deep verandahs, etc. – which would be in keeping with the ethos of the western view of the property.
Angela drew a rough plan showing church, hall, admin. offices, coffee shop, classrooms, etc. which was shown to the congregation in mid-February.
This was well received and, at the Vestry meeting on 23rd February 2009, the parish agreed to move forward.

Introduction

Welcome to the on-going story of the building of a new church for the Anglican parish of All Souls, Umhlali, in the Diocese of Natal.

We are situated at the northern end of the Dolphin Coast, north of Durban in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa.

Our story is, as all building stories are, a story of ups and downs, joys and frustrations.

As this blog is launched we pray we will be obedient to the Lord and that we will fulfil His purpose for His people.