A Vision to be a "Healthy, Growing Church." Moor St Redevelopment

Here at Burton Elim we believe God is on the move! He is building His church, and we are excited to be part of all that He is doing.  As we experience His power at work, we know that the gospel is still the hope for our nation, and that he has equipped his church with power to be His witnesses.
 
Believing that the best is still to come, as God pours new wine into His church we are drawing inspiration from the parable of the growing seed in Mark 4:26-29 and have embarked on a new adventure intentionally investing to create new wineskins ready to hold that new wine. This means looking at the spaces we need as a growing church to run the different minsitries we are involved in, both now and in the future!  

But we must not mistake the building for the mission!  The building is not the mission, but rather it is merely the wineskin we need to achieve the mission, and we are using the idea of the "Gentiles Court" that surrounded the temple in Jerusalem as our approach.  This was the area that people would go to explore faith, be discipled and receive care, and we are seeking to create the spaces we need as a church to be able to carry out the ministry God is doing amongst us.

Building for the future: What are we proposing?

On Wednesday 9th September 2026 we shared with the church the reasons why we need to redevelop our Moor Street site, details of what is being proposed and the estimated costs.





The recording of this vision evening sharing the details of what we are about to resubmit to the council is now available to watch on our YouTube channel – please can we encourage you to find time to watch this and be a part of the adventure? (There were some technical issues at the start of the recording, so please fast forward to the 9-minute mark when the content starts.)

To watch please click here

Staking the Ground

It was with this in mind that as a prophetic step of faith, on 18th Janaury 2026 we gathered before our morning service to pray and "stake the ground", using the following focuses:

• Numbers 33v51-52 & Zechariah 4v6: "It's not by might, nor by power that we do this, but by Holy Spirit"
• 2 Peter 1 v3-4: "That we would continue to grow healthily"
• Deuteronomy 28v8: "That God would provide the resources needed for this work"
• Isaiah 54v2-3 & Joshua 1v3: "That we would find favour with those in positions of influence for this work."

Progress So Far

To help us with this project, we engaged the specialist services of a local Heritage Consultant & Conservation Practitioner (Heritage First) whom we have been working closely with to develop this project.

At the beginning of 2025, we carried out a consultation process and from that identified 7 core objectives that needed to be achieved through the building project, and after much work, on 15th December 2025 we submitted a "Pre-Application" to East Staffordshire Borough Council to begin a process of negotiation and discussion with their Conservation Officer to agree what they will allow us to do with a Grade 2 listed building.  (Pre-Application ref:  PRE/2025/00251)

As part of this process we submitted concepts, options and possibilities of our ideas to allow us to discuss with the Conservation Team what they might allow us to do.  Unfortunately this initial application was rejected, and so at the end of March 2026 we met with the local council to discuss our options.  Following further discussions, we went away and we now have new concepts and plans for how to redevelop our Moor St site that we hope will be more acceptable to the council.

These new concept plans were shared with the church together with a project vision update on Wednesday 9th September after a day of prayer and fasting - watch here

• Work has been carried out to repair the tower by evicting the pigeons, removing years of guano and securing it to prevent pigeon and water ingress;
• A Listed Building application (application ref:  P/2026/00831) has been submitted for installing pigeon spikes to the tower to complete this work and stop the pigeons from fouling the outside of the building and the entrance steps (decision expected end of September 2026).
• We have made safe the loose crosses on the roof;
• We have achieved retrospective Listed Building consent for the underfloor heating and the balconies (application ref P/2025/00178); and
• We have achieved Listed Building Consent for the following (application ref P/2025/00177):
  • repairs and restoration of windows across the building including removal of inappropriate vents, glass and overhaul of cames, saddle bars and openers.
  • Localised repairs to the leadwork and slates of the roof and overhaul of damaged and inappropriate rainwater goods.
  • Restoration and repair of internal and external stonework including re-pointing and replacement of failed, cracked or damaged stones.
  • Repairs to damaged paving and steps .

Funding

This work will require us to take some big steps of faith, as we do not currently have the funds to achieve this - but we have a big God and we are beginning an adventure of faith trusting that He will provide us with what we need.

On 13th September 2026, Pastor Chris spoke on giving and our response to what God is doing amongst us - to watch this click here

Aware that we do not have the funds to complete this work, we have been working with a specialist Christian Fundraising Consultancy (Action Planning) to develop a strategy for how we might do all we can do, as we pray for God to do all that He can do.

If you would like to be a part of our adventure and contribute to the work, gifts can be given to our Restricted Building Fund using the following account details - please identify your gifts as "Focus 82" to ensure they are correctly identified and allocated to the building project.

Account: EFGA Burton Elim Church
Sort Code: 60-05-16
Account No: 18537731
Please identify your gift as "Focus 82"