Church prepares for £500k revamp (From The Oxford Times)

Church prepares for £500k revamp

1:00pm Saturday 12th January 2013 in News

Buy this photo » The Rev Jane Sherwood, left, and children and families worker Maddie Buchanan shift a decorated cross as the church contents are removed to storage watched by Rita Nambooze, one of the church’s congregation

THE process of packing up a South Oxford church has begun ahead of its £500,000 revamp next month.

The last Sunday service at St Luke’s Church will be on February 10, and the vicar at the church, the Rev Jane Sherwood, is spending this month boxing up the building’s contents.

During the building work – which is expected to finish by the end of October – Sunday services and church groups will meet at the South Oxford Christian Centre in nearby Wytham Street.

Ms Sherwood said: “We have quite a few boxes packed already, we are gradually working our way through.”

But she added: “We have quite a long way to go.”

Church groups, apart from the drop-in session, are not meeting this month to allow the church’s contents to be packed up ready for the removal company.

Ms Sherwood said members of the church’s congregation and community have helped with the packing.

A smaller side hall is being added to the church in Canning Crescent to include new office and storage space, a kitchen and bathroom facilities following years of fundraising.

Ms Sherwood said: “We are very excited. It has been a long project – we have been working on it for seven years now.”

The church still has to raise another £25,000 to fund the revamp.

St Luke’s launched the drive to redevelop the building two years ago after city councillors approved the plans in 2010.

Find out more or make a donation by visiting stlukesoxford.org.uk