WHERE ARE WE HEADING?
It is our vision that the church should become once again a central hub of life in Chidham, Hambrook and Nutbourne - a welcoming and inclusive sacred space which speaks of a welcoming and inclusive God; a place where life’s great celebrations and losses can be marked - a place which touches the lives of the inhabitants for good; a building whose living faith shapes the clay of community life. We want a building in which we can celebrate and host. We want a building which is more inclusive of the wider community of the parish it serves; a building which will be both audibly and visually back at the centre of village life.
If God is welcoming and inclusive then that suggests to us that we should mirror God’s inclusivity, and welcome people to enjoy this building - facilitating people to join in, participating together in whatever activity is taking place. To this end it is important to us that:
- all people can get into the church with ease (so access is important: width, ease of door opening, steadying handles, smooth trip-free surfaces, good lighting; toilet facilities; running water).
- all people can participate as fully as they wish once inside (wheelchairs and buggies should be accommodated without compromise of view; lighting should be adequate; spoken and sung words be audible and/or visible; people should not feel excluded).
- all people should be afforded the best level of comfort while using the building (heating, seating, toilets, refreshments, quiet areas for those disturbed or restless)
We want people to be able to come in and sit quietly in a warm, welcoming, comfortable space; to be able to reflect; to engage with God in a way appropriate to their situation. We want to provide challenge and interaction, exhibitions and explanations which inspire and speak of God: a building which speaks of our faith.
We want to offer an attractive, useful communal space to celebrate our achievements - exhibitions of children’s work; local artists; flower & produce shows; we want sacred space to give divine endorsement to positive activities; we want to showcase what is happening in our community. We want to celebrate life with musical events, and receptions for events such as Remembrance Sunday; New Year; Harvest; Jubilees; christenings, weddings, anniversaries etc. We want to celebrate the educational aspect of our faith: to allow the building to speak of the faith by its design; by what is in it; by how it is configured; by use of art, sculpture, sound, touch, and smell.
A flexible space could host revived Mystery Plays for Passiontide; sculpture could be displayed; Christmas Tree displays would be possible for Advent, sponsored & decorated by local groups; Wedding Fayres could be organised; displays of wedding dresses through the ages; vestments and church furnishings could form displays; fabrics and textiles could be explored in seasonal banner making workshops - the possibilities are limited only by our imagination.
DO WE HAVE COMPETITION?
We do not think there are other groups or premises in the area with such an agenda - and certainly none with such an iconic building. There are other communal buildings for hire (such as our own St Wilfrid’s Church & Parish Centre), and there are other Christian communities (such as the Baptist church Emsworth (2 miles away, and a Free Church on Thorney island (Neighbouring peninsular to the west), in addition to our neighbouring parishes who have their own churches and communal spaces. There is a village hall in Chidham, which offers some groups space, but nothing spiritual. St Wilfrid’s hall has small chapel contained within, but the main hall would be suitable for a children’s party or a nursery, whilst perhaps an Art Exhibition, or a medieval music concert or Taize style prayer vigil would be better set in St Mary’s Church. It has been suggested that St Mary’s church has excellent acoustic and sound qualities which will help to attract other groups/users to church after the reordering, such as Chichester University music students. It is not envisaged that the acoustics will be affected by the reordering.
We do not think that developing St Mary’s and welcoming individuals and groups into the church building or providing a welcoming sacred space will encroach on the activities of other groups in the area. In fact, we think it will be a positive offering, and an integral part to life in Chidham and Hambrook villages.
It is hope that we would work closely with our community in using the spaces we all have and being able to support one another. We know that there are facilities available in the parish for community space, including the village hall, the school hall and of course our own St Wilfrid’s It is likely, and understandable that there will be some concern that these are competitors – yet we find the word competitors too strong. We would simply seek to compliment other spaces. St Mary’s is not a vast space where the space can be used for a multitude of events. The box pews are fixed, and we do not propose to remove them, except for a few at the west end of the church for additional space. The other venues are able to support various activities in the spaces they provide. St Mary’s would clearly become more specific and of course more focused in some of the things we could offer given the available space. Some of the suggestions above are what we could achieve – if we had the suggested development we propose.
WHAT’S WRONG WITH THINGS AS THEY ARE?
As we explore how we are being called to be God’s people in Chidham & Hambrook for the twenty-first century and beyond - and then try to reconcile that with the current building - we have come to the clear conclusion that St Mary’s church building is currently not fit for many of the purposes we would wish to see in its future. This is a cause of great sadness and lament since we love our building and stand in awe of its longevity and witness to the faith over so many generations: we want to see it used more, not less; we want it to thrive and come alive again.
St Mary’s might be declared unfit for human habitation in any other sphere of life. The electrical system, lighting, and heating are dated and/or inadequate. There is no sound system (the current worship music plays through the electric organ) and therefore no hearing loop system for the hearing impaired or deaf. There are no running water, toilets, or kitchen facilities. The building largely remains as it was in the Victorian period. The message given out by the church building may be that things have stood still; it is only used for a particular kind of worship. Our building is, therefore, potentially, contributing to our marginalisation.
It is also a sobering truth that buildings mould the congregations that use them. If a church building is rigid, inflexible, cold, dark, and unwelcoming a congregation is going to struggle to overcome that environment before the Good News of Jesus Christ can begin to make an impact both on the congregation and how the congregation feels about welcoming others into such a space and faith. It is worth noting here that we are not suggesting the current congregation is inflexible or unwelcoming, in fact first views of development potential have been incredibly supportive.
Within our current worship use of the building is restrictive:
- The closest toilet facilities are in The Vicarage which cannot be used when the priest-in-charge is attending services. In addition, allowing people access to The Vicarage for toilet facilities adds a further issue for hygiene and security of the priest and their family.
- We cannot run Messy Church, or an informal parent & toddler service, or holiday clubs; we cannot move seats to make floor space, or liturgical space; we cannot introduce a table for activities, or to sit round. The church cannot easily be used for meetings.
A SOLUTION
Working with our Inspecting Architect, Richard Meynell, we have begun to explore developing the building in 6 keyways:
- The provision of toilets, a kitchenette and storage by building outside of the current footprint on the church’s north wall, and a re-built vestry-cum-meeting room in the west end of the church, beneath the bells. Storage is essential in that we have little storage space at this time, which is lockable. In the current climate users expect a certain level of provision and facility in a communal building, which presently is not available.
- The opening up and restoration of the west end of the church. Removal of all or half of box pews at the west end behind the font to allow communal and circulation space. Current vestry space to be half kitchenette half vestry. To allow a small kitchenette space and a small space which can be used a place where people may be able to sit together with a drink and socialise after the service. It would allow a small vestry area to be created for the clergy and others in which to robe etc.
- The ‘partitioning’ of the north aisle to create a space which would allow families and others to sit during the service, with a speaker allowing access to the service. It would serve as a more intimate chapel space for small services such as Taize services and allow a small meeting space where the Sunday School can meet, in full view of the congregation, and vice versa. A place where the priest can meet with people such as marriage couples; baptisms etc after services. It is envisaged that the partitioning would be of glass, with an etching on some of the glass, similar to the glass panels and door at St Paul’s in West Street, Brighton with a fishing net design or other such design.
- New lighting project to enhance and develop the lighting in St Mary’s and allow the rewiring of the church to complement the aesthetics of the building. The history, architectural significance and craftsmanship of the buildings can often be ‘brought to life’ and enhanced by the correct lighting project. The lighting at St Mary’s is not ideal, being large flood lights, which are poor at lighting the church as they point directly down, meaning congregations/audiences have difficulty in being able to see and read clearly. Effective lighting enhances communication between the preacher and the congregation, is part of the symbolic nature of a church as a place of light and creates the kind of ambience that gives everyone a rewarding spiritual experience. In addition, we would be able to have the building rewired to bring the building into full electrical compliance and build the additional wiring into the project for the new build, kitchenette etc.
LED Lighting will clearly not only enhance the beauty of our wonderful church, but also be cheaper to run, and be less impactive on the environment. The heating project will need to be considered using a similar basic principle of cost to run and impact on the environment.
- The development of the porch area to make the welcoming space of St Mary’s Church more attractive less restrictive around the entrance to the door.
- The removal of the pipe organ. The pipe organ, as it is, cannot be used because of asbestos within the organ. It is thought that the asbestos is currently only in the bellows box, although this will need to be confirmed. The organ itself was purchased in memory of a local resident who died. The plaque on the organ reads:
The story is actually quite a sad one and the plaque is somewhat misleading. The organ was bought by Charles in memory of his mother, but between the purchase of it, and the installation of it, Charles killed himself, rumoured to be because he could not marry the woman he wanted to marry. It is understood that because of the suicide, he was not able to have a funeral service in church, but a memorial service was held later for him. I have spoken with the surviving relatives of the Goodger family who fully appreciate and support the removal of the organ but would like to see the organ donation remembered in some way if it is removed. FR Andrew has assured the family that they will be consulted at all times during this process as a priority where concerns the organ, and that the memory of Charles and his mother will be remembered permanently in the church.
WHAT NEXT?
We appreciate that these are significant developments for the church building and that they will be expensive and time consuming. As part of our planning, we envisage a multi-phase development.
Those phases will be determined largely upon the money raised to fund this overall project, but there are things that could be done in phases as and when the money becomes available. Below we have set out what those phases might look like, although there is not a suggestion that each phase must run consecutively to the previous
Phase A: Building of toilet facilities, building of extension to north wall of church; to include water ingress and drainage egress and preparation for kitchenette.
Phase B: Re-ordering of the church (removal of some box pews at the rear to create more space); removal of organ in current vestry area, installation of the kitchenette; vestry build.
Phase C: Lighting, Rewiring; sound system; Wi-Fi connection; hearing loop; cameras for broadcast services.
Phase D: Partitioning of north aisle and reordering of area.
Phase E: Heating.
It was immediately recognised by the PCC that any work required and/or identified by the QI should be done in a way that will be in line with the reordering plans and certainly not against the plans, which could mean work being done twice – once to repair under QI recommendations and then to replace under the project.
In preparation for the QI, we have recognised that the following work will need to be completed:
- The assessment of asbestos - a previous QI recommendation identified that we have asbestos substance in the organ. The organ will need to be cleared of asbestos before any work can be considered to the organ or in the area around it.
- The wiring and lighting are in extremely poor condition and have now been recognised as in urgent need of repair. The work is estimated at £25,000 for this part of the project.