Buy a Minister’s House Project

Why do we want to buy a house?

We are so thankful for the ministry the Lord has given us in Wandsworth and for how he has provided for our needs through the generosity of his people. We are also conscious that an important part of securing this ministry for the future involves providing suitable accommodation for our Minister and his family. We believe that now is the right time to do this for a number of specific reasons:

Our Minister and his family currently live in rented accommodation which, by definition, is not as secure as a property owned by the church.
We are currently paying significantly below market rate thanks to the generosity of Christian landlords. Whilst welcome, this does not help us prepare for the future, especially as commercial rents are increasing all the time.
Our Minister and his family outgrew their home a number of years ago; we wish to honour them by providing a home that functions well as a place of rest and which is useful and suitable for ministry.
The Lord has graciously given us a significant financial headstart (more on this below); we believe it is right to be good stewards of these resources and to act now.
Buying a property enables us to ‘lock-in’ accommodation costs for the medium/long term. We would be investing in an asset owned by the church rather than pouring our money away into the rental market. We would be able to plan and expand our ministry rather than being subject to the vagaries of the rental market.

How will we buy a house?

Appropriate family homes in this part of London cost well over £1m and we may feel as if that is beyond us. However, it is not beyond the Lord! In fact, he has already proven his ability to meet the financial needs of the church by providing £120,000 in response towards last year’s building repair project.

Wonderfully, the full cost of that project was met by other means and so we are able to redirect the monies given towards a house purchase project. However, this is still not enough so what else do we need to do?

In addition to the £120,000, we are hoping to raise c.£400,000 of equity as follows:
- £150,000 of giving from church family and friends
- £50,000 of existing church reserves.
- £200,000 of borrowing from external sources so as not to place the full burden of this project on our church family but to partner with other gospel friends.
The remaining cost of the project would be funded by a mortgage: hopefully, through a Christian bank that has experience of these kind of projects. Whilst the costs may end up being higher than rental, we believe this is the right thing to do for the reasons stated above.

How can I get involved?

We recognise that everyone has different financial circumstances and pressures, but we would love to invite you to get personally involved in this project. The most helpful way to do this is by making a gift by way of bank transfer. Gifts of any size are hugely welcome.

To give now, please see the information on our giving page and enter Reference: HP SURNAME. This will direct your gift to a designated fund within our bank account. Please notify Harry Chichester (project manger) of your gift by email.
To pledge to give a gift, please contact Harry using this webform.

A few other important points:

Don’t forget that, for UK tax payers, the government will add an additional 25% to the value of your gift. Higher rate tax payers will also receive a refund of 25-30% on top. Complete our Gift Aid declaration.
We suggest that your giving to this project is not to the detriment of your regular giving to the church.
If you want to get involved, we ask that you respond by Sunday 27 April if possible. If this deadline would preclude you from from giving at this stage, please speak to Harry.
Please feel free to tell Christian family and friends about this project.

Pledge a gift

The small print

Our church is part of the Co-Mission Churches Trust (a registered charity, no. 1139922). The house would be owned by the CMCT but retained for the use of our congregation. Funds raised in this appeal will be used by All Saints Wandsworth (part of CMCT) to help fund the purchase of a church house and/or for any of its general charitable purposes. If, for whatever reason, we are unable to use these funds for buying a church house, we would apply them towards our ongoing church ministries.

To discuss this project in more detail, please email any of the following individuals: Harry Chichester (project manager), Matthew Barnes (elder), Doug Allord (elder) or Andy O’Brien (minister). If you are in a position to loan a substantial amount and can take a medium to long term view on repayment, please speak to Harry. Please note that gifts and pledges will be held in confidence by Harry, Matthew and Doug, as well as members of the CMCT Charity Services Team.