Life and Witness

The Life and Witness Committee, although not due to report this year, sought permission to bring the following resolution about seeking approval for an appeal for the Windermere Centre. The Assembly Arrangements Committee asked Mission Council to advise them about whether this should be included ‘as a matter of urgency’. Mission Council advised inclusion so that the mind of the Assembly could be tested.

The Windermere Centre Appeal

1. The Paper …

1.1 At the request of the Life & Witness Committee (which has oversight of the Windermere Centre), Mission Council commissioned the first review of the Centre since its opening in 1984 under the convenership of the Reverend Tony Coates. The Windermere Centre Review Group reported to Mission Council in March 2003 and the recommendations that were received by Mission Council came to General Assembly 2003 as part of the Mission Council Report. Members of General Assembly are referred page 34 of the General Assembly 2003 Reports (where the recommendations are listed) and in particular to recommendations 2, 3, 7 and 8.

1.2 The United Reformed Church has a vision of becoming ‘a vibrant and sustainable Church within the next ten years’. The Life & Witness Committee sees the Windermere Centre as crucial to this process because it is the place ‘where the future pattern of life and witness of the United Reformed Church can be explored’ (recommendation 3). To this end, the Committee has been taking forward the recommendations to develop the Centre building into a place that can adequately accommodate and provide conference space for its 33 guests. The existing conference room cannot accommodate more than 20-25 in comfortable, creative layouts.

1.3 The Life & Witness Committee seeks the permission of General Assembly to launch an appeal throughout the United Reformed Church for money to develop a Conference Centre in the existing Carver Church hall complex. Stringent planning constraints mean that the existing Centre buildings cannot be developed and extended to meet these needs and the development of the hall complex represents the only viable option open to the Committee. An appeal will be made to the Synods, Districts, churches and individuals of the United Reformed Church. At the same time, appeals and applications will be made for community, government and charitable funding elsewhere.

2. The Place …

2.1 The Windermere Centre is the United Reformed Church’s own residential training centre in the heart of the Lake District. Founded in 1984, it was to equip the whole Church to develop a faith and life relevant to its context. The Centre has assumed a pivotal place in the life of the United Reformed Church. It provides an imaginative and wide-ranging programme of approximately 100 courses and events annually. An average of 2000 members of the United Reformed Church from across England, Scotland and Wales, together with international visitors, come to the Centre each year to develop their life-in-mission, both as individuals and communities of faith. There are testimonies to the transforming moments that people, groups and local churches have experienced while at the Centre. It is a place where God is found to be very close.

3. The Purpose …

3.1 The Centre belongs within a bold vision – a vision in which the United Reformed Church has a significant future in God’s mission. It belongs within a vision of God who is active in the world and calling the Church to renewed discipleship. It belongs within a vision of a Church that is not dying but seeking to respond in new and faithful ways to that call.

3.2 The Windermere Centre Review Group confirmed that the Windermere Centre is the space within which the Church can develop its life-in-mission at every level. This is the place where there is co-ordinated, sustained and strategic exploration of how to move beyond a ‘survivalist’ mindset and practice, reconnect with society, and manage the resultant changes. The Centre has the resources to enable the Church to:

i) understand and engage critically with contemporary society and culture

ii) develop missiological thinking, theology, practice and structures

iii) facilitate communication throughout the United Reformed Church and share thinking and best practice

iv) encourage ecumenical thinking and engagement

v) be exposed to leading thinkers and practitioners in different fields

vi) develop spirituality that will nourish and sustain life-in-mission

vii) be refreshed, renewed, encouraged and revitalised

viii) relax, play, pray and develop gifts and talents.

4. The People …

4.1 The Centre belongs to the United Reformed Church – its people – and must meet their needs.

“I never knew the Bible and God could be so exciting!” (Church weekend)

“This has changed my theology!” (Stewardship Advocate)

“We have come back again because we need to develop further what we started as a result of being here last year. Our church hasn’t been the same since.” (Church mission audit)

“The peace and stillness; the beauty of the gardens and the mountains – just what I needed! I feel like a new person!” (Easter Retreat)

“I always thought theology was complicated and boring. You’ve taught me why it matters – and how exciting God can be!” (‘The Minister as Theologian’ POET course)

“The idea that we only have to be faithful and that the future of the Church is God’s problem is immensely liberating. An awful burden has been lifted and I feel I can begin to be courageous and experimental.” (‘Theology of the United Reformed Church’)

“The fellowship and nightly prayer have been amazing! I have never felt so close to God. I am not the same person who came here.” (Advent Retreat)

5. The Problem …

5.1 The Conference Room is too small to accommodate more than 20 people in comfort, or for anything other than lecture-style layout; its size and shape frequently limits effective course work because leaders are prevented from using café-style, free seating or other layouts with more than a dozen or so people.

5.2 The present lounge is too small to accommodate more than 15 people. It is useful as a meeting room, but there is no place for 33 guests to relax and socialise as a group.

6. The Proposal …

6.1 Stringent planning constraints mean that the present Centre buildings cannot be developed to solve the problem.

6.2 However, Carver United Reformed Church has a hall, kitchen and office complex adjoining the church, which they are prepared to lease to the denomination in the same way as they currently do the Windermere Centre. By retaining eating, sleeping and socialising in the Centre, and moving all conference activity to the Carver hall complex, we will be able to:

i) construct a purpose-built conference room above the church hall, seating 40 people in the full variety of layouts and combinations

ii) install an adjoining library with on-line facilities, housing United Reformed Church publications and papers and a mission collection

iii) create a Director’s office and 2 smaller meeting rooms

iv) link the hall complex with the church building via an open-plan building with reception, refreshment and break-out facilities, together with a bookshop

v) have access to the remodelled church building for prayers and larger public meetings associated with the Centre’s programme

vi) link the new conference centre to the Centre building via an enclosed walkway

vii) develop the basement/cellar area into a storage and recreation area, especially suitable for young people. Install a hot-desking office for community use

viii) refurbish the church hall. The church hall and meeting rooms will be available for church and community use and the rental income will be used to offset costs

ix) extend the present conference room to provide a proper lounge for larger groups to relax and socialise in comfort and housing the Centre bar.

7. The Price …

7.1 Planning approval has been received for the proposals. Building will be able to proceed, subject to funding. With General Assembly’s approval, we will launch a Church-wide appeal to raise the money. It is important to note that General Assembly is not being asked to find the money from within the budget; rather, the appeal will be made to individuals, local churches and the various councils of the Church, as well as to outside funding bodies.

7.2 The project has been costed by Telford Hart Associates, a local firm of Quantity Surveyors with a proven track record in project management. The costs that appear here are based on present prices and allow for the reasonable duration of the project. Should the project be significantly delayed, prices will rise accordingly.

8. The Plan …

8.1 An appeal committee will be responsible for raising money. There are 3 sources of funding:

i) The United Reformed Church – individuals, local churches, districts and synods

ii) Community and specially designated funding for the public buildings

iii) Carver Church, which is redeveloping their sanctuary to be a more flexible worship space and more suitable for use by the wider community and the Centre. The Carver-funded development will facilitate the total development of the Conference Centre.

8.2 The development will be phased so as to minimise disruption to the Centre’s programme. The final phase of the building will include the conversion of the present lounge into 2 single bedrooms and the Conference Room into the Centre’s lounge. This will ensure that the Centre does not have to close in order to complete the building.

9. Frequently Asked Questions

i) Why does the Centre want to expand at present? Why don’t we carry on as we are for the present and see what happens in the next 5 years or so?

We are not expanding. There are no plans to increase the numbers of people the Centre caters for. This plan provides what is necessary to do what the Church has set up the Centre for and affirmed in the recent Windermere Centre Review. At present, we cannot do that properly because the facilities are inadequate. We are losing trade because people are going more and more to places that can provide the accommodation and conference facilities that they desire. That trend will only increase during the next 5 years.

ii) Doesn’t it make sense to wait until the Catch the Vision group has reported before embarking on something as significant as this?

The ‘Catch the Vision' review process was never intended to put the ongoing work of the Church on hold. The proposed developments are needed to enable the work that the Church has asked the Centre to do – and that work is about enabling and resourcing the Church to become all that it is supposed to be. Putting the work on hold will only make it considerably more expensive in the long run.

iii) This is a time of cutting back. Surely it makes no sense to be spending such sums of money?

This is a time for reassessing our priorities. We need to spend money strategically in order to achieve our vision for ourselves as a Church. The Vision Statement envisions a Church that is ‘vibrant and sustainable’ within the next 10 years. The Centre exists to facilitate that; in addition, the Centre itself needs to be vibrant and sustainable.

iv) The legal arrangements could be very complicated. Who will own the buildings?

The United Reformed Church will lease the buildings from Carver Church under the same legal arrangements as it does the Centre (which used to be the Carver manse). The Church will effectively ‘own’, develop and maintain the buildings. Carver will lease back the hall from the Centre and the Centre will receive all income from rental of the rooms to the Windermere community.

v) Does this mean you are effectively asking the wider United Reformed Church to fund a local church development?

No. The opposite is the case. Carver is funding the redevelopment and refurbishment of their church building, but doing so as a contribution to the overall plan. They have already contributed nearly £61,000 to the project and are raising further funds towards it.

vi) Is this a sound investment?

Yes. The capital value of the buildings – Centre and Church – increases by more than the money spent. It not only increases their resale value, but their desirability as a saleable property. And property is always at a premium in this area.

vii) The sort of estimates you provide are usually hopelessly optimistic, both in terms of time and expense. How can we be sure these will not spiral?

We have been scrupulous about costing this as accurately as possible. Telford Hart and the architect, Clifford Patten (of Lewis Patten Chartered Architects), have proven track records in foreseeing all eventualities and in minimising actual costs. The first phase of the Centre development, estimated at £131,000, was achieved for £120,000 – on time and within budget.

viii) You talk of funding from outside the Church. How much of the project cost do you expect to have to raise from within the Church?

We don’t know. Our research indicates that there is significant money potentially available from government, European and community sources. This is important because we see the provision of a suite of buildings suitable for community use as part of the Church’s mission locally.

ix) What happens if you can’t raise all the money?

We will have to make choices about how much of the project can be achieved. You will see that it is phased. The phasing allows us to make these judgments.

x) Isn’t the timing remarkably insensitive in the light of the closure of Yardley Hastings?

There is no good reason to think so. The Centre exists for the whole Church, not just for the older members. The closure of Yardley makes it the primary residential centre for children and young people. We are grateful for the expressions of enthusiasm and support that we have received from the individual members of FURY whom we have consulted. We are involved in negotiations with FURY to determine how the Centre may be of best use to children and young people. It is now all the more important that the facilities are adequate for the task.

xi) What if General Assembly refuses the request to launch the appeal?

The Centre exists to serve the Church, not vice-versa. We have made this proposal in order to implement the recommendations of the Review Group and carry out the role that General Assembly 2003 agreed. This is what makes the development necessary. If General Assembly does not want to see this development, we will carry on offering imaginative, high quality training and development within the current limitations, but the Church needs to recognise that we will not be able to provide what it has asked of the Centre as the United Reformed Church looks towards the next ten years of its life.

Resolution 26: Windermere Centre

General Assembly gives approval for a financial appeal to individuals, local churches, districts and synods during 2005 in support of the development of the Windermere Centre’s facilities.