Why are we considering a new building?
We have made a number of announcements in September and you can listen to these on YouTube using the relevant links below:
We outgrew Ladycroft many years ago and for over 30 years Balerno High School has provided great facilities for our Sunday morning and evening services – lots of space, flexible space and at a low cost. It has been a place where we have met with God, and it has enabled St Mungo’s to flourish and grow.
However, in recent years the problems and challenges of using the school have grown. The biggest issue is availability. We can no longer have the school on a Sunday evening and we do not think this will change.
We have had our morning let cancelled 6 times in the past 8 months. Often, we only get a few days’ notice, leading to staff rushing to organise alternatives. Not surprisingly, this is stressful for staff and takes away from the work they should be doing.
Sadly, our conclusion is that we no longer feel that Balerno High School meets our needs, and certainly is not a secure and satisfactory venue for our Sunday services as we look to the future.
This disappointing and concerning position, along with a specific encouragement from God to Ollie, is why in 2022 Vestry started to investigate the alternatives to Balerno High School.
Vestry asked a group of St Mungo’s members who all had significant property experience to carry out an Options Appraisal of all the options that were available to us. The group initially listed 21 options before focusing down on 9. The results were reported back to Vestry at the end of 2022.
You can read the Options Appraisal Summary Report here.
After prayerfully and carefully considering all the options, Vestry reached the conclusion that a new building on the Woodcroft field is likely to provide the best solution. This is not without its challenges, but we feel a thorough investigation should be undertaken. And that’s where we are now, moving deeper into this feasibility investigation.
What came to light as we explored Woodcroft more was that it had been given specifically for the purpose of a new church building. If you were at the House Group evenings you will remember this document on screen which is the legal document from 1942 in which Janet Brodie, who had been the church organist, left the field in her will, for the purpose quoting the document “with a view to a new church being erected thereon”.
Vestry’s view was, and still is, that it seems that God has supplied the fundamental requirement for any new building – land. Vestry decided in April this year that we needed to start investigating the possibility of a new building on Woodcroft Field.