St John’s Orangefield reopens after refurbishment
St John’s, Orangefield, has reopened for worship after an extensive refurbishment and upgrade to the facilities. Parishioners had a preview of the work on Saturday 4 December and the first service took place the following day.
The interior of the church, which was built in the mid 1950s, looks stunning after being repainted, re–floored and remodelled at a cost of £550–600,000. Only £120,000 of the total is a loan, the remainder having come in since the project was conceived in 2017.
Work began in late January early February this year and was overseen by the architectural consultant, Brian Jeffers, who is also the church organist.
The rector, Revd Ross Wilson (pictured above), said: “We are delighted to be able to return to worship in our reordered main church building. The refurbishment was quite the team effort – and I’m grateful to everyone who has worked so hard in bringing it about. A special mention to Brian Jeffers who poured many hours of love and skill into this project. And most of all, as a church family, we are grateful to God who has faithfully provided what we needed.”
Highlights include:
A quiet area at the rear with a Book of Remembrance which also acts as a prayer space.
A refurbished, painted and glazed wooden screen which has been moved forward to create a natural entrance to the worship space, dividing it from a welcome area at the back.
A rarely used rear exit porch has been turned into a toilet area with changing facilities.
Pews replaced by comfortable upholstered chairs and the installation of a new audio–visual system with screens.
The re–ordered chancel which can double as a more intimate worship setting.
The church has been entirely repainted in a colour scheme inspired by the Christ figure depicted in the stained–glass window at the rear of the church.
Rooms
A quinquennial inspection found that the side rooms required urgent attention and so the whole area was gutted and reformatted to include a small extension and a new rear entrance from the car park. Facilities here include a small kitchen, more new toilets, a pastoral room and a multi–purpose space complete with kitchenette. This will facilitate a youth fellowship, crèche on Sunday mornings and vestry meetings. The new entrance (which also has a toilet) means that parents can easily collect their children from activities.
Members of the local community will have a chance to look around on Saturday 11 December and Bishop David will officially commission the church for worship and mission in January 2022.
