£4.9 Million, Eight Years of Planning and a Mortgage: A Church Near Portsmouth Starts Building

• Lock Heath Free Church began building a £4.9 million church near Portsmouth
• Plans include a 500-seat auditorium, a 180-seat auditorium and a sports hall
• Funding came from gifts, the sale of church property, grants and a mortgage
• Planning took eight and a half years before work began

A church near Portsmouth has begun building a £4.9 million new home after more than eight years of preparation, Premier Christian News reported in August 2018.

Lock Heath Free Church started construction in August 2018, with completion expected in November 2019. The building will include a 500-seat main auditorium, a separate 180-seat auditorium, a sports hall, café, foyer, staff offices, multi-use rooms, a pre-school area and a youth suite.

The project was funded from several sources: personal gifts from the congregation, the sale of church property, fundraising, grant applications and a mortgage that the church community will repay. It took eight and a half years of planning before ground was broken.

The church’s newsletter captured the effort involved: “After eight years of prayer, planning, giving, fund raising, legal work, meetings, emails, telephone conversations, being overwhelmed, miracles, prophetic words, simply persevering, questions, more meetings and prayer … it has actually started.” Members were asked to pray for the builders.

The funding mix is typical of a successful church building project. No single source covered the cost. Selling existing property released capital, members gave, grants were sought and a mortgage bridged the gap. Designing the building for community uses, such as a sports hall, pre-school and café, also widens its value beyond Sunday services.

Jamaican congregations planning new buildings can learn from this approach. A realistic budget, several funding streams, a mortgage only as large as regular giving can support, and a building designed for weekday community use make a project more achievable. Long planning periods are normal; approvals, land and finance all take time.