An Ipswich church community which set up a goal to raise £1.2million to renovate the town's fire-hit St Michael’s Church is planning to start the works in the summer.
In July 2022 the burned-down church that has sat unused for over a decade was bought by The Ark of the Lord church community.
Penny Gordon, the pastor of the Ark in Ipswich, said that they are now applying for grants and will soon want to start the renovation works.
“We meet once a month with our amazing project management team from Cambridge, Peterborough and London. Our civil engineer, Colin Glenn, is from one of our sister churches in London.
“We're in the funding application stage at the moment. We're putting together applications for grants for the renovation work.
“Hopefully, we may be able to start the roof in the summer.”
The pastor added that the community has been waiting for a “miracle” to go on with the much-needed works.
The whole renovation project was set to cost £1.2million to be able to fully renovate the church that was burnt down in March 2011 in a suspected arson attack.
Pastor Gordon said: “At the moment the initial funding that we're looking for is between £70,000 and £100,000.
“We need the money for all the reports, the quantities, surveyors and the architects.”
The pastor said that the renovation is going to be carried out in stages, starting with installing a new roof.
She added: “We really would love to get on the roof first, because once we get it done, we can take it off the at-risk register.
“The church is one of the five buildings in the town that have been assessed and found to be at risk.
“When we get the roof done, we can start drying out the building.”
The community meets up every Sunday in the hall located beside St Michael’s church.
The children’s church ministry has recently organised a nativity play for the Ark in the Ipswich community.
Pastor Gordon said: “This is the second and third generation of children. I used to pick up their parents for Sunday school when I was eighteen.
“My husband and I had two minibuses that used to go around Ipswich and pick up children for Sunday school.
“We have some really faithful, lovely young children that meet every Sunday.”
Pastor Gordon said that she “fell in love” with the church when she saw it for the first time, and is now focused on bringing it back to use.
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