The vicar of church which is due to have its hall demolished to make way for homes says she is excited about the plans.

Last week proposals for St Michaels Church, in Bishop Ken Road, Harrow Weald, were submitted to planners.

The proposals include the demolition of The Wykeham Hall, and the construction of six homesand a three storey block of eight flats, all built by the The ASRA Housing Group.

Also the interior of the church would be aland there will be a new a multi-use hall and an area for worship and the wider community.

Vicar St Michael and All Angels church Jody Stowell said: As a church we are very excited about these plans.

One issue we have had is that our hall is in a dilapidated state and is actually falling down. The decision was taken same time ago try and do something with the site.

As a church it is important for us to adapt to the needs our community and so we can provide space it can benefit from.

When the church was built in the 1930s a church hall was where people would meet.

Now we need to change and be flexible to the changing community and support it into the future.

Housing is an issue for the whole of London and it is important to us to e able to prove new houses and affordable homes.

See the article here:
Church 'excited' about housing plans

Sharon Shari Mielke , 68, of Highland passed away on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012 in San Bernardino. She is survived by her husband John Jack Mielke, son, John and wife, Alexes Gamboa Mielke of Downey, twin grandchildren, John Andrew and Jenna Rose, grandson, Luke Daniel, 3, sisters, Kerry Ledig, Jayne Black and Carol Sue Edwards and 1 brother, David Edwards all of Washington. In years past Shari co-facilitated a cancer support group called Make Today Count at Community Hospital of San Bernardino and was also a trained hospice volunteer at Redlands Community Hospital. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27, 2012 with a Rosary at 7 p.m. at Bobbitt Memorial Chapel, 1299 E. Highland Ave., San Bernardino with Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2012 at St. Adelaide Catholic Church. 27457 Base Line, Highland, with interment to follow at Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Blvd. Riverside. Condolences may be sent on-line at http://www.bobbittchapel.com.

Continued here:
Thursday, October 9, 2014 5:35 pm

Midlands Universalist Unitarian Church will celebrate its 60th anniversary Saturday with an open house.

By opening the churchs doors to the community, the Rev. Thomas Schmidt said he hopes to be able to dispel some of the misconceptions that may be held about the church as well as show off some of recently completed renovations to the buildings exterior.

Theres a little bit of showing off, Schmidt said. We want to show off our grounds, were very proud of what weve done here, but we also know that there are some misconceptions about us. Were doing at Q&A at 2 p.m. so that people can ask questions. Well have lots of information out if people want to know more about our church. Its just an opportunity for those who are curious about who we are to find out a little bit about us.

Started in 1954 as a Unitarian church, Schmidt said the church began in the homes of just a few couples. After just a few years, the congregation had grown to more than 25 people who brought in a Unitarian minister and began construction on a church building.

They were up and running pretty quick, Schmidt said. They were committed to bringing Unitarianism to Midland and people are still surprised that were here.

Following a fire in the original building on A Street in the late 70s, the church moved to its current location on the corner of Midkiff Road and Neely Avenue. Over the years the building has seen several renovations, most recently to the churchs grounds, Schmidt said.

The impetus was that we wanted our grounds and our church to reflect our values, said Schmidt, adding the landscaping was done with the goal of reducing the churchs water usage.

In addition to making the space more environmentally friendly, the church also put up a concrete wall surrounding the campus as a way of reducing the noise from the busy road.

The wall is really just a way to cut noise, its not that we want to wall people out or anything, Schmidt said. It was just a way that we could use the space and reduce the noise level. The wall, along with the fountain for a little white noise, was added just so that we could actually use this space.

Schmidt will welcome Midlanders inside that space during the open house to dispel misconceptions about the church and the congregations spiritual structure.

See more here:
Universalist Unitarian Church to celebrate 60th anniversary

Johannesburg - Construction on a Johannesburg church, part of which part had collapsed, was legal, the Alleluia Ministries International Church said on Wednesday.

"We wish to state it categorically that as a church we are doing everything to the best of our ability to fulfil the requirements of the city council," spokesperson Ndivhuwo Khangale said in a statement.

A newly built section of the Johannesburg church collapsed on Tuesday after the church ignored instructions to stop construction.

On 30 September, The Star quoted architect Marian Laseron as saying that construction at the Alleluia Ministries church in Lyndhurst was a disaster waiting to happen.

A second storey was being added to the church without building plans or approval from the City of Johannesburg, according to the newspaper.

The church had ignored two warnings to stop building.

"Alleluia Ministries International has been shocked by media reports that we are busy constructing our church building illegally," Khangale said.

"All our architectural plans including the soil analysis are in place."

He said skilled engineers were working closely with the city council on the building project.

A construction artisan had put too much concrete on a corner slab "and a small part of it fell", he said.

Continue reading here:
News24.com | Charismatic church denies illegal construction

Health News of Thursday, 9 October 2014

Source: GNA

An 11-member Volunteers in Mission team from the Annual Conference of United Methodist Church in New York in collaboration with Winneba Diocese of Methodist Church Ghana have undertaken a free medical screening exercise for over 100 people in and around Gomoa Abassa.

The volunteers made up five medical practitioners, five in construction and an engineer also painted and did construction work at the Awomberew Methodist Primary and Junior High schools.

Pastor Woody Eddins from Simsbury, Connection Methodist Church, US, and leader of the team, told the GNA that such support from Volunteers in Mission started in 2006 through the initiative of a Ghanaian, Rev Joseph Ewusie, working as Coordinator of the Annual Conference of United Methodist Church, U.K.

He said the collaboration with Winneba Diocese of Methodist Church enabled them to build a 10- classroom block, office and storage room for the school as part of their contribution to enhance teaching and learning in the area

He said two years ago the Church also partnered the Northern Diocese of Methodist Church, Ghana to construct nurses quarters at Yipala Docas Clinic as well as gave the habitants free medical service.

Dr. Matthew Burke said the medical service was carried in partnership with nurses at the Gomoa Abassa CHIP Compound.

He said among the disease brought before them was malaria, typhoid, high blood pressure and anemia.

Rt. Rev. Dr. Kwesi Buabeng-Odoom, Bishop of Winneba Diocese of Methodist Church Ghana, expressed appreciation to the United Methodist Conference for Volunteers in Mission for the support and expressed the hope that it would continue to put smiles on the faces of the vulnerable.

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Volunteers give free medical service

Preservation group hopes to save structure

The Bishop of the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador Rev. Geoff Peddle is supporting the removal of the 1894 church in St. Philips.

In a four-page letter given out in the new Anglican church at Sundays service, Peddle writes hes been considering the old churchs fate for longer than just the nine months he has been dealing with the issue as bishop.

The fate of the church has been a point of debate and even contention in the community since the last service was held there in 2003 following the construction of a new building on the same piece of property.

In March 2010, the community awoke to find that somebody had pulled the steeple off the church and left it on the ground.

Stephen Sharpe with the Church by the Sea says this newest development doesnt change the fact that his group is going to continue to rally for the preservation of the structure.

We are still interested in saving that church and putting the steeple back up, he said.

Sharpe said the letter wasnt something his group was expecting.

Were kind of disappointed in the letter. We had discussed partnerships and this sort of thing and we thought that before a letter came out like that ... Id thought that we may of had some kind of a stronger heads-up on it.

In the letter, Peddle identified with Sharpes group and what its trying to do.

Read more here:
Bishop supports removal of church

Published October 07, 2014

WORCESTER, Mass. Church officials and preservationists are trying to figure out what happened to several 1.5-ton gargoyles from a Massachusetts church.

The church in Worcester (WUS'-tur) is a one-fifth scale replica of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It was built in the 1890s and was formerly known as the Chestnut Street Congregational Church. It now is owned by an Assembly of God congregation and is on the market for $2.5 million.

The crumbling building was slated for demolition a decade ago but was saved with the help of Preservation Worcester.

The group's director tells The Telegram & Gazette (http://bit.ly/1CS7mbb ) the 3,000-pound gargoyles were removed for safety reasons by a construction company that went out of business. The company's assets were sold at auction, and the fear is the gargoyles were sold.

___

Information from: Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass.), http://www.telegram.com

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Church officials, preservationists trying to find gargoyles missing from Massachusetts church

ROCKFORD, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - A West Michigan church is issuing a call for the ultimate athletes.

They're creating their own spinoff of a popular television show in hopes of bringing their community and congregation together.

In just a matter of days, teh construction site will be transformed into an obstacle course, with the Bridgeway Community Church hoping that the physical challenge can raise some money for a great cause.

The show is a household name for many families--American Ninja Warrior--and it's the ultimate challenge for athletes.

Now, Bridgeway Community Church, in Rockford, is issuing a call to its community athletes.

"We like to go big," Elder Chair Brian Pankratz said. "The popularity is huge."

The athletes will test their strength, agility, balance, and more, to support the church's youth community center.

"Developing healthy kids was initiated to open lines of communication and de-stigmatize mental illness," said Kirsten Myers, the Executive Director of Special Services, for Rockford Public Schools.

For the last four months, Bridgeway Community Church has been hard at work transforming the property into a course for new ninja warriors.

"We have duplicated a lot of obstacles from the show, and have 9 finalists coming out," said Youth Pastor Cameron Versluis. "We designed the course in 3D before we built it."

Read more here:
W. Mich. church issues call for 'American Ninja Warriors'

The Midas team hard at work in Counterslip Baptist Church. L-R: Jack Belcher, Daniel Hill (centre) and Josephine Owen

Staff at one of the largest independent construction companies in the South West donated their time to transform a run-down community church hall used by dozens of local groups.

Midas Construction's Wessex & Wales division organised the project to renovate a large room at Counterslip Baptist Church in Bristol which provides a base for many organisations including Brownie and Guide clubs, toddler groups, a youth club and hobby groups for keen birdwatchers, walkers and knitting enthusiasts.

As part of its annual Community Engagement Week, Midas staff worked to revitalise and refresh the much-needed facility with support from local sub-contractors and suppliers.

Staff donated their time during a week in September and painted the ceiling and walls of the room at the community church in Whitchurch, as well as covering an old mural, decorating walls and ceiling, replacing ripped vinyl coverings on the chairs, installing new notice boards.

Derek Quinn, divisional director for Midas Construction in Wessex & Wales, said: "Our staff were delighted to help refurbish this popular community facility, which is so well used by local groups, and we are grateful to our sub-contractors who helped us with this project by donating materials, including QDL Contractors, Furniture 23, Vescom and TC Titan Production.

"Together with Midas staff donating their time to carry out the work, we were able to transform this church hall and provide a fresh, clean space for many local youth clubs and community groups to benefit from."

Every year, The Midas Group hosts dozens of projects across the South West as part of its Community Engagement Week drive.

During previous community weeks, staff from the Wessex and Wales division have renovated the headquarters of the Creative Youth Network in Kingswood, hosted open days and taken part in charity-run projects to encourage more young people to consider career opportunities in the construction industry.

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Tom_Cowle published Community church hall is transformed thanks to local construction...

By Michel Nkurunziza

Nyarugenge District authorities have closed down a church because it was constructed without authorisation.

According to the district authorities, Bethlehem Miracle Church located in Nyamirambo Sector, was built without a construction permit.

The church is also accused of noise pollution.

Speaking to The New Times, Solange Mukasonga, the Mayor of Nyarugenge District, said the multi-million complex was illegally constructed and could not be allowed to operate.

According to the church leaders, the structure is worth Rwf230 million.

"We have suspended the activities of the church because construction rules were breached," she said, wondering why the church was constructed up to completion without proper documents.

The church was also ordered to pay a fine of Rwf10 million, according to the mayor.

However, the church leaders say they received the green light to build from both the district and sector leaders.

Bethlehem Church was launched in 2009 and work s on the place of worship began in 2012, according to Jean Marie Murekezi, the treasurer of the church.

Read more from the original source:
Rwanda: Authorities Close Down Multimillion City Church