St John’s Church & Community Centre Project Newsletter

December 2024

Our Building Project started over two years ago and is making progress towards realising its vision: St John’s buildings are modern, well-equipped and affordable facilities for use by churches and community groups. These spaces are designed to foster a strong, connected community in Puketāpapa Mt Roskill. In this newsletter, we’re really excited to present the highlights from the project so far!

Building Consent and Demolition

After receiving resource consent in February 2024, we obtained building consent in September 2024. While we waited for building consent, Auckland Council permitted us to demolish the existing church and community hall. Thanks to the incredible effort of volunteers from St John’s Church and Eun-Chong Korean Church, we successfully cleared the buildings and stored essential items like seats and sound equipment. Our demolition contractors helped us to ensure that, where possible, the materials from these buildings were recycled or donated to communities in New Zealand and overseas.

Laying the Foundations

Next, the team poured the concrete slab and erected the concrete block wall for the ground floor. We were thankful for a week of cool weather, which helped the slab cure evenly without cracking. In the meanwhile, we’ve continued to hold church services and community group events in our temporary chapel. We deeply appreciate the flexibility and patience of our church members, community groups, and Roskill Together as we juggle the limited space and facilities!

Rising from the Ground

In December 2024, we poured the concrete slab that forms the first floor. Work is also underway on the staircase and lift shaft that will allow people of all abilities to move between the building’s two levels. In January 2025, the Sprung Structure will be installed using specialised tools to stretch a robust canvas between the building’s steel framing. At the same time, the exterior windows and doors will be installed. If construction continues to go to plan, we hope to have a fully enclosed building by the end of February 2025. The project’s focus will then shift to the building’s interior where the fit out will commence. This will be a complex phase, so we’re working with our contractors to carefully the plan the work that’s needed. It’s so exciting to see many years of planning and preparation coming to life!

Fundraising in 2025

Since launching our formal fundraising campaign in July 2023, we’ve been very grateful for the generosity and support of the community as well as the members of St John’s and Eun-Chong churches. To date, we have raised $3.4m of our $6.5m project cost. Our dedicated, volunteer Fundraising Team is working hard to close the funding gap with several initiatives:

• Applying for grants from a range of community trusts.
• Holding sausage sizzles at Bunnings Mt Roskill – these are a great way to serve the community, raise funds and tell more people about our project.
• Keeping our Second Chances Op Shop TradeMe store stocked with pre-loved goods at affordable prices.

We’re always eager to explore gifting and sponsorship opportunities with individuals and businesses. If you or someone you know would like to learn more, please email the Fundraising Team.

If you’re the praying sort, please keep the following in your prayers:

• Construction will remain on time and on budget, without any unexpected costs or problems.
• The Fundraising Team’s grant applications will find success, especially since the difficult economic climate has reduced the amount of funding available to charities.

As it happened – photos of the construction