Sannox Christian Centre (SCC) has received a very generous gift that will fund the building of the Beehive Chapel. The donor wants to specifically fund this project. The gift is two apartment houses currently valued at £460,000. These will be sold to finance the Beehive Chapel.
The legal procedures for the transfer of ownership to SCC have been proceeding over the past few months and are now finalised. SCC is now the official owner of the two apartments. They will generate a net rental income of around £2,000 per month which will help with our operational costs in the short term, until we are ready to start construction.
The Chapel will take about a year to design, gain the planning approval required, agree the tender and prepare for construction. The properties will continue to be managed for us by the existing property management company and SCC has been registered as a Landlord with the local council.
The Beehive Chapel has always been a special element of the design of the Centre. You may remember that we obtained planning permission for the whole Centre, including the Beehive Chapel, with no objections and no changes to the design.
Of course, the original church will always be a special place, coming out of the spiritual awakening in the early 1800s, but over the years we have felt God saying that the Beehive Chapel is the centre of worship for a new season.
The plan is that we start construction of the Beehive Chapel in October 2024, after we finish the renovation of the Manse. It is a complicated building and it will take some time to prepare for the start of the works. We already have three amazing stained glass window designs for the Chapel windows, created by Emma Butler-Cole Aiken. Emma is a well-known stained glass artist and was commissioned to design a new window for Glasgow Cathedral and a design for one of the gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show.
We want to emphasise that our key focus at the minute is building community and this will continue to be a priority, but the building of the Manse and Beehive Chapel will allow the vision and our community to develop. We hope it will also be a visible encouragement of God’s provision and glory. The design of the Chapel is a God given part of His overall plan and He has blessed us with this wonderful gift to fund it.
His provision of funding over the past 11 years has been amazing and He has blessed us again with this next phase of building.
Thank you all for your prayers and support and thank you Father for all Your goodness and Your blessings which have been showered on the work at Sannox.
We look forward to seeing God’s continuing provision for the restoration of the Manse.
The Sannox Team