• November Gift Day results
• Cornerstone featured in Evangelicals Now
• Design and planning continues

Once again we were able to celebrate God’s faithful provision to us. The November Gift Day raised approximately £76,000, which when combined with the gifts and standing orders that came in throughout the month, the total raised was enough to purchase the Castle Boulevard site without a mortgage.

The December edition of Evangelicals Now featured an article entitled ‘Cornerstone – How a large church grew from small one in Nottingham’. It described the last forty years of Cornerstone’s history in conjunction with the celebration of Peter and Valerie Lewis’s ministry in Nottingham. The article ends with a reference to the building project and Cornerstone once again ‘being on the move’. Click here to read the article in full.

With many encouragements to look back on over the last two years, the church were now looking once again to the future and how the site can be developed to provide a home for the ministries of the church. Design options, financial plans and budget estimates continued to be worked on throughout the month. Keep an eye on the news pages for further updates.

• Planning permission finally received and completion date confirmed!
• Another fund raising milestone passed
• November week of prayer and gift day announced
• Steering committee changes announced

Praise God for answered prayer! On Thursday 29^th October, we received formal approval of our application for a change in use of the Castle Boulevard Site and completion of the purchase was set for 5^th February 2010.

October saw us pass yet another amazing fund raising milestone. Since January 2009 we have managed to raise a further £1Million! This was yet another tremendous testimony to God’s grace and the generosity of His people. By the end of the month, we had raised just over £2.8million in cash and were about £125,000 short of our target of being able to purchase the Castle Boulevard site debt free.

A week of prayer for the building project was announced for 22^nd - 28^th November. This would culminate in another gift day. The aim of the gift day was to raise the remaining money to purchase the Castle Boulevard site and start raising funds for its development.

The Building Steering Committee was formed in May 2008 to provide management oversight of the detailed aspects of the project, meeting every two weeks to review progress, discuss issues and make recommendations for how the project is to proceed. This month we were sad to announce that Andrew Thurston would be moving away from Nottingham and would no longer be able to be part of the steering committee. At the same time, we were pleased to be able to announce that Debbie Dickson had accepted the invitation to join the steering committee.

• Elders review the project
• Planning discussions continue

On Wednesday 23^rd September, the Elders met for the day to discuss and pray for the building project. A review of the last 3 months of the project took place, including the various changes since the Church Meeting in May.

The way forward for the project was discussed and prayerfully considered. The Elders unanimously affirmed the decision to proceed in faith with the purchase of the Castle Boulevard site, whilst investing further time in investigating options to bring the development budget within our provisional estimates. The key points underpinning this decision were:

• The Lord’s provision of the Castle Boulevard site and the funds to purchase it could not be dismissed.
• The strategic location of the site and its price are still the best that we have seen to date, especially with the property market now widely acknowledged to be recovering.
• It was strongly believed that it will be possible to develop the site in line with our original estimates and will meet the church’s immediate needs, whilst also providing future potential.

Throughout September, discussions took place between the church and Nottingham City Council to agree the terms of the Section 106 obligation associated with our planning application. The agreement needed to include a commitment to promoting alternative modes of transport to the site, which is deemed to be in a city centre location. Discussions were productive and a draft agreement was drawn up for approval by ourselves, the vendor and the City Council.

• Feasibility and concept study begins for Castle Boulevard site

This month was almost exclusively given over to discussions about the future design of the buildings on Castle Boulevard. Working with our chosen architects and a team of specialist consultants, we investigated the opportunities and constraints that the site presents us with.

As well as discussing the different plans for the layout of the East and West buildings, we also carried out investigations on other specialist areas. These included acoustic requirements, a structural assessment of the two buildings, the environmental characteristics of the site, heating and ventilation considerations and fire safety design.

In addition to these studies, work began on estimating costs for the development work. Once complete, this will enable us to refine our business plan and arrive at a budget for the first phase of the construction project.

• Contracts exchanged on Castle Boulevard Site
• Planning Application reviewed by Development Control Committee
• Visit to Kings Gate Church, Peterborough

Thanks and praise to God! Contracts were finally exchanged on Thursday 2^nd July for the former MFI premises on Castle Boulevard. This meant that the Church were now formally committed to purchasing the land and buildings on the site, subject gaining planning permission for a change of use to a place of worship. This very significant milestone in the life of the Church marked the end of nearly two months of contract negotiations and many more months of searching for a suitable location.

On 22^nd July, the City Council Development Control Committee discussed our application for a change of use of the former MFI premises on Castle Boulevard to class ‘D1 - Place of Worship’. The Committee gave provisional approval to the application subject to us completing a "Section 106" planning obligation with the City Planning Department.

This month, a group visited Kings Gate Church and Conference Centre in Peterborough. The Centre was featured in a BBC programme for Pentecost entitled, ‘That’s the Spirit’. The church has two services each Sunday morning, with about 800 at each and an auditorium which can hold about 1400 people. We were made very welcome and it was great to discuss ideas as well as their recent hands-on experiences of a large building project.

• Architects selected for project brief
• Contractual discussions draw to a close
• Bluecoat School announcement

After a lengthy review process, we selected FeildenCleggBradley Studios (FCBs) as our architects for the initial design phase of the project. FCBs were first established in 1978 and have offices in Bath and London. They came with an excellent reputation within the industry and a diverse portfolio of projects from which to draw experience and ideas. We were originally introduced to them through the Orphan Care Hospice project they undertook with Paul and Ann Dean in Inguavuma.

This month we also received news that the Bluecoat School, in which the Church currently meets, intended to pursue the option of further developing the Aspley Lane Campus rather than redeveloping the Wollaton Park Campus. Their aim was for all students to be moved to a consolidated school at the Aspley Lane Campus by 2012. The implications of this announcement were that we would be able to continue to worship at the Wollaton Park Campus until development of the Castle Boulevard site is complete. It was also confirmed that we would be able to keep the offices at the school until Easter 2010.

• Special members' meeting
• Gift day raises an estimated £460,000
• Change of use planning application submitted
• Programme activities continue

At a Special Resolution Meeting on 7^th May, the Church members voted by an overwhelming majority (98%) to purchase and create plans for the development of the former MFI buildings on Castle Boulevard. This was a tremendously encouraging result and yet another indication that the Lord has been leading us forward one step at a time.

In addition to the tremendous news of the members’ vote, we were also immensely grateful to God for the news that our third gift day had raised an estimated additional £460,000 for the building fund. By the end of May, we had just over £2.5million in available funds, with a further £1million pledged over the next 2-3 years.

Our application for change of use of the Castle Boulevard site was submitted along with supporting planning and transport statements. These can be viewed on the City Council website and was scheduled to be decided by 23^rd July.

Programme activity also continued throughout the month, with contractual discussions continuing between ourselves and the vendor. We also carried out a number of buildings due diligence tasks this month including a building condition survey, environmental study and valuation report.

• Church members vote to pursue MFI property
• Third gift day and week of prayer
• Contractual and planning discussions begin
• ‘MFI Open days’ held

It’s hard to believe that twelve months has passed since the search for a new location and fund raising efforts began in earnest, following the Church Annual General Meeting on 3^rdi April 2008. At this year’s AGM - exactly twelve months later - the Church members voted to support the Elders and Steering Committee in pursuing the MFI property with a view to voting at a special meeting in May on purchasing that property. All of this resulted in making April 2009 the busiest month of the programme so far.

A significant development such as this needed to be accompanied by serious prayer and giving. A further week of prayer was held from the 19^th - 25^th April to place ourselves, our plans, hopes and fears in our Lord’s mighty hands once again. This was followed with another gift day, the third in twelve months, on Sunday 26^th April.

This month marked the beginning of discussions on the sale contract. We chose Shoosmiths solicitors to represent us in this critical phase of the project. Heads of terms were agreed and the first draft of the contract issued for our review and comment. As well as the contractual discussions, work began on planning and transport statements to support our application for a change of use of the property from its current classification as ‘A1 - Retail’ to ‘D1 - Place of Worship’.

Finally, members of the congregation were invited to visit the Castle Boulevard site to enable as many as possible to see for themselves the potential that the site offers. Two visits were arranged and a good number of people came to have a look around.

• Initial offer made for former MFI site on Castle Boulevard
• Architect selection process kicked off

At the end of February, we received telephone calls regarding the availability of the former MFI site on Castle Boulevard (NG7 1FP). This property had been on our ‘watch’ list from late last year but had been excluded due to the high initial asking price. However with the global recession continuing to affect the property market, the asking price had been further reduced. Much of the month was therefore spent in discussions with agents as to what kind of offer would position the Church as a serious contender for the property.

The property has huge potential:

• It is located within our preferred search area and is accessible by car, public transport and on foot.
• It has sufficient space for our needs (ground floor area of 2,800m2) with potential for further internal expansion.
• It is in a visible location, being on a major route into the City centre.
• It is located at the junction of a mix of residential, business and retail areas.

It also presents a number of challenges, which the Church were encouraged to pray about:

• Competition for the site is likely to be high, with other businesses expressing interest.
• A change of use from the City Council Planning Department will be required.
• We will need to raise more money if we want to purchase the site free of debt.

This month, we also received proposals from a number of architects to create a generic brief for the project. The goal of the brief will be to:

• Validate the high level requirements developed by the Church
• Provide a definitive, detailed statement of the requirements for the new Church Centre under two scenarios:
• "optimum": what would be required fully to meet the Church’s medium to long term objectives
• "minimum": the minimum specification which would allow the Church to continue its current ministries and allow for later adaptation to meet growth requirements
• Set out indicative development costs for both options to inform ongoing project budget discussions
• Generate conceptual designs and options for the configuration and usage of space

• Passed the £2 million raised mark in February
• Two locations being seriously considered
• Architects being contacted to provide us with generic brief

February was a month of small yet significant developments. For example, the building fund surpassed £2,000,000 in available funds. While there is some way to go in terms of fundraising, it is very encouraging to see the faithful giving of God’s people result in this milestone. Anyone who would like to contribute can read about some of the main options by visiting http://www.cornerstoneuk.org.uk/buildingproject/giving.

Another exciting development was the introduction of a second serious contender in terms of suitable properties. Please pray that discussions will be productive and that it will become clear if this is to the site of Cornerstone’s new centre.

With a couple of potential properties being investigated, February was also the month in which a couple of architects were asked to provide generic proposals for a possible church complex.

Increasing funds, properties that are potential sites for Cornerstone’s new home and some preliminary proposals from architects are all exciting developments, which bring the project more into focus for us as a church family. However, we realise there is a long journey ahead with major decisions to be made. We want to encourage everyone with an interest in this project to pray that God’s will be clear to the church and that we will have faith, boldness and unity to step forward when that becomes clear.

• Day of Prayer and Fasting on 29 January
• Property search and discussions continue

Everyone at Cornerstone united for a day of prayer and fasting on Thursday 29 January. At this meeting, Paul Couchman shared that there have been recent discussions with the owner of a property that meets many of our requirements. For reasons of commercial sensitivity, we cannot communicate the details, however, there are a number of hurdles and concerns that need to be addressed before progress can be made. Please pray that it will become clear whether nor this is the site for us; we want God’s will to be done.

The building fund has continued to grow with pledges being honoured and standing orders making a steady contribution. At the same time, it has been very encouraging to receive gifts from people who used to attend Cornerstone but have since moved away, some many years ago. We are very grateful for the generosity of God’s people.

Lastly, the process started to select a professional services company. Proposals have been requested and we will be continuing discussions over the coming weeks. We want to be ready to ‘hit the ground running’ with design and planning activities, etc, when the time comes.

• Continued work on the searches for a site and a professional services company

With Christmas on the horizon, December was a month of relatively low activity. With no significant new developments to report, church members were encouraged to continue praying for:

• Land, without which we cannot move forward;
• Wisdom in decision making and negotiations;
• and Patience as we wait for the next move.

Proposals started to be received from a number of professional services organisations in order to be prepared for any increase in activity, should a suitable location be found.

Paul Couchman confirmed that he will continue to perform the role of project manager, albeit with a reduced time commitment, until next steps in the building programme are clarified and/or a successor is appointed.

Please continue to support us in this exciting project.

• Second Gift Day takes Building Fund to nearly £3 million
• Auction raises almost £10,000
• Members’ Meeting update

The month began with the second Gift Day on 2^nd November. The results continue to be very encouraging, with the total building fund, including pledges, now just under £3 million.

Another significant fundraising event this month was the auction held at Trent Vineyard on Saturday 15^th November. This was a well attended and fun evening, during which people paid handsomely for a range of highly desirable lots! As a result, almost £10,000 was raised for the building fund. Thank you to everyone who donated item, attended and/or bought something. A small number of items were unsold. These can be viewed at: http://www.cornerstoneuk.org.uk/files/auctionitems1.pdf and if you want to make an offer, please contact the church office.

Lastly, at the end of the month (27^th), there was a well attended church members’ meeting. One of the agenda items was a building programme update. Paul Couchman gave an update during which he explained our stronger financial position given the month’s giving and fundraising. He also explained that the search for a site was continuing and that the discussions with one previously discussed confidential site were ongoing.

With an eye to the future, Paul explained that the church was now seeking to appoint a professional services company that would be a ‘one stop shop’ for the Church’s multiple requirements once a site had been chosen. Joff Gribbin, one of the elders, thanked Paul for his excellent work as project manager since our requirement for a new building became apparent earlier in the year. Joff explained that there would be a search for a new project manager in the near future as Paul would soon be moving on to other things and hence unable to perform the project manager role on a full-time basis.

The church meeting ended with a call to continue praying for:

• Land, without which we cannot move forward;
• Wisdom in decision making and negotiations;
• and Patience as we wait for the next move.

We would encourage you to please join us in this exciting project. We very much need and appreciate your support.

• Special Building Programme update meeting
• Second gift day announced
• Items for Cornerstone Auction flood in!

October has been one of the more eventful and active months since the launch of the building programme.

On Monday 13^th October, a special meeting was held to provide an update on building programme progress. The first item for discussion was that we have identified a freehold property in an excellent location, which seems to be a great possibility for us. The owner has requested that details of the site be kept confidential at this point until we were in a position to take negotiations to a more advanced stage. However, it is thought that the property is big enough to meet Cornerstone’s current needs with potential for expansion in the future.

The second main topic at the update meeting was fundraising. The site has an existing building that would need to be modified and/or extended and therefore we would need to raise at least £4 million to achieve this. While good progress has been made in terms of donations and pledges, it was evident that there is some way to go in terms of getting enough money to avoid having to borrow heavily.

With a view to boosting funds, two forthcoming events were promoted during the month. Firstly, our second gift day on Sunday 2^nd November. Everyone was encouraged to consider and pray about giving more, bringing forward the payment of future pledges or maybe giving for the first time. Secondly, an auction is taking place at the Vineyard Church on Lenton Lane on Saturday the 15^th November starting at 7.45pm. A wide range of items were donated during the month, from holidays in the sun to a years’ supply of cake, as members and friends of Cornerstone were encouraged to spread the word.

Look out for next month’s news when we’ll be able to provide an update on the Gift Day, the results of the auction and an important members’ meeting taking place on 27^th November.

• Church Weekend provides update on progress and next steps
• Another week of prayer held to commit our plans to the Lord
• Elders take time out to review the programme status
• New and improved website launched!

After a relatively quiet summer for the Building Programme, September saw an increase in activity on a couple of fronts.

The Church Weekend provided an opportunity to bring everyone at Cornerstone up to date with developments. On the Sunday morning we got a comprehensive update on the building programme including an update on the status of the building fund which focused minds on the significant fundraising challenge faced by the church. In the same presentation, information about some of the sites under consideration provided everyone with tangible examples of where our future home may be.

All this equipped the Church for a special week of prayer when we were able to devote significant time to pray for our gospel ministry at home and abroad. We also prayed for all aspects of the building programme, including: continuing to preserve the unity of the Church, a suitable new location, progress with fund raising, sound decision making, temporary arrangements and the programme team.

This month, the Elders held an away day to review the overall progress of the building programme. Their time together included prayer for the project, a review of the financial situation and discussion of a number of potential sites. The results of the away day were set to be communicated to the Church during October.

Lastly, a new building programme website was launched (where you are probably reading this update!). We want to keep everyone with a link to Cornerstone, where in the past or today, up to date with news about our building challenge. Look out for more news in the weeks and months to come!

• The £1 million milestone is passed!
• Temporary move to the Bluecoat School, Aspley Lane Campus

Summer holidays meant a relatively quiet month in relation to site search activity. However, a significant milestone was surpassed on the fundraising front. During the month of August, the amount of money actually given to the building fund (as opposed to pledges) passed the £1 million mark. This is an important first step towards our overall target of £6million for the project.

This month also provided us with a potential foretaste of things to come with a temporary move (for two Sundays) to the Bluecoat Aspley Lane Campus, while electrical work was carried out on the Wollaton Campus. This presented a significant logistical challenge for Spencer and the team, but went smoothly with the help of an army of volunteers and good planning.

• Building Programme update at Members’ Meeting and opportunity for questions

Overall, activity levels dropped a little given the onset of the summer holidays. However, Paul gave an update on Building Programme progress and activity to date at the Members’ Meeting on 10 July. After members of the Steering Committee and other teams were introduced, Paul shared the current financial position which included the significant amount of giving and pledges from last month’s Gift Day. This was encouraging but we still have some way to go.

More detail about our building and site requirements was also communicated at the Members’ Meeting. While specific details of potential sites couldn’t be revealed in case it unhelpfully impacted ongoing discussions, it was clear that the search for a suitable site had been active and that a number of sites have been reviewed and considered. None of these sites met all our requirements. We heard that discussions with the school had re-opened regarding the possibility of Cornerstone in some way sharing the redeveloped site at Wollaton Park.

• First Gift Day takes place, taking the total amount given or pledged to over £1.6M
• Building Programme structure announced and steering committee formed

The month began with our first official Building Fund Gift Day. At both services on 1 June (and 7 June for those who were absent the previous week) everyone was encouraged to return the form, which was distributed last month, detailing the financial contribution they had decided to make to the Building Fund. Giving options included one-off donations and future pledges, whether in the form of a lump sum or regular giving. The total amount given or pledged was £841,690 (including an estimate of £150,000 reclaimable tax). This takes the overall value of the building fund to £1,672,287. We give thanks to God for the sacrificial giving of his people.

There were two major developments in the organisation of the Building Programme. The first was the formation of a Steering Committee. Comprised of Joff Gribbin, Spencer Hampton, Stephen Pinfield, Andrew Thurston and Paul Couchman, the purpose of the committee is to provide management oversight to all aspects of the Building programme. It will be accountable to the Elders, providing them with regular updates on progress as well as recommendations for key decisions to be made.

Secondly, Paul Couchman has defined the structure of the Building programme; that is, all the different teams he believes need to be in place to ensure everything that needs to be done, gets done. So, in addition to the Steering Committee there are teams (some large, some small) focusing on communication, strategy and requirements, fundraising, site acquisition, business planning and transition planning. The formation of these teams has started, utilising the skills and abilities of people throughout Cornerstone who are willing to give of their free time and expertise to help with the Building Programme.

• Building Programme begins to take shape
• First Gift Day scheduled for 1st June
• Paul Couchman appointed as programme manager
• Frequently Asked Questions booklet published: FAQs page

This month we have started to get greater focus on our twin challenge namely: finding a location and raising the funding. We estimate that we will need to raise £6Million to purchase a site and develop a building that will meet our vision for Cornerstone’s ministries for the next 100 years. We estimate £3-4 million will be needed to purchase a suitably large site within our target area (within 1.5 miles of the Queen’s Medical Centre) and up to £2 million required for the building.

A Gift Day has been scheduled for the 1st June and an accompanying giving guide has been published and distributed to every member of the Church. Everyone has been asked to prayerfully consider their response to the challenge of raising the money for a new centre for our Church.

Paul Couchman has been appointed, on a temporary basis, to manage and coordinate all of the activities needed to make sure the Building Programme is successful. His management skills and experience will help ensure a coordinated and organised approach to what will be a complex and long-term project.

Finally, a Frequently Asked Questions booklet was published to help address some of the more common questions and concerns that have been raised to date.

• News that Cornerstone needs to vacate Bluecoat School’s Wollaton Park Campus by the end of 2009
• The church’s leadership communicates the news and future challenges to the church
• Special week of prayer and Prayer and Praise meetings

This month, we received the news that the redevelopment of the School site was scheduled to go ahead in January 2010 and that the Church would need to find a new location in which to meet from the end of 2009.

News of our new building challenge was communicated to everyone, including a call for a special and intense period of prayer to focus on the issue of Cornerstone’s future accommodation needs. A week of prayer and a number of Prayer and Praise meetings were devoted exclusively to future building requirements. The focus was on locating, acquiring and financing a suitable site or premises, managing the period between leaving the church and having a new building and, of course, caring for our church family and continuing to grow for God’s glory.