Church renovation

After months of talks and meetings, the church building is finally going to be undergoing major restoration work from the end of June. This is going to be a huge project which will take 12 or 13 months, not finishing until August 2008. The front of the church is going to be completely restored, it’s not just a case of cleaning up the stonework: several blocks will be replaced as well as the columns and the statues. Several objects are also going to be renovated: the large main door, the stain-glass window, the surrounding fence, the steps etc. This is a major operation, one which is done every two or three hundred years on a monument such as this! Of course the work is going to cause major disruption to the everyday life of the church community. For safety reasons, entry to the church will be via a tunnel and for a short time the main entrance will be inaccessible. So as to avoid intrusions, the church will be largely boarded up. All this work is being paid for by the sate but in addition, the church council have decided to enlarge the capacity of the church by changing the entrance. The necessity for this work is a testimony to the great news that the church congregation has increased dramatically in recent months, but it won’t be paid for by the Paris town hall. The work in the entrance will hopefully begin in March or April so we have only until then to find the necessary funding and financial plan for the project. The members of the church are really relieved and happy that this work is going to take place. The church is a beautiful building and in a bit of a sad state at the moment. In August next year we’ll be able to see such a huge improvement. The building will be all the more attractive and hopefully the beautiful and renovated exterior will finally reflect the life and vibrancy that you can find within its walls. We would really appreciate your prayers for this huge project! We pray that the final plans and preparations will go according to God’s will. We pray also that we can find the needed finances for renovating the entrance area to increase the building’s capacity. And finally, that, despite the disruption that will be caused by the work, the church can still continue to serve and worship the Lord with ever more faith and passion.