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.