Consideration of New Worship Location
We have been worshipping at St Vitus Kerk since December last year. Currently they are undergoing renovations which will last until May. We have been wondering about the possibility of another location with greater flexibility and the Seventh Day Adventist Church has been approached and they have offered us the possibility to rent their church on Sundays. This is a summary of the two options open to us at present for our consideration. We hope to make a decision this Sunday January 29 in discussions after the service. Please pray that we will heed our Lord's guidance.
St Vitus Old Catholic Church
Address: Melkpad 12 Hilversum
7 min walk from Hilversum Station
Free parking onsite front of church (15 spaces)
Music: Two pipe organs and a piano.
Cost: €400 per Sunday (use of church and de Akker) if we are less than 25 persons, €600 per Sunday if we are more (we could negotiate for a reduction). €200 per use of the de Akker on other occasions.
| Advantages:
More beautiful, though temporarily disordered it will be stunning when completed - it fits better with High Church Anglican worship. Episcopally consecrated. More visible and known location (and more central) in Hilversum. Much greater capacity if we grow large or if we have special services such as an Evensong with an invited choir. We are getting used to this location and we know it well and like the people we work with at St Vitus.
Disadvantages: Morning services not possible at present. (St Vitus Council has rejected the idea of moving to 11am so we could come at 9am. We could approach them again though there is no certainty they would accept.) We have an inconsistent Sunday time for worship during the month which is not so easy to remember. Considerably more expensive. Short Term: set up and putting away chairs/altar/piano for the next 3 months, plaster/paint fumes. Temperature not so comfortable in cooler months (15C).
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Seventh Day Adventist Church
Address: Boomberglaan 6, Hilversum
17 minute walk from Hilversum Station
Free parking onsite by church (similar size)
Music: Pipe organ and piano.
Cost: ~€242 per Sunday. (€1050 per month, for use of whole building.) We have not had conversations about other days yet but can negotiate.
| Advantages:
Complete freedom to choose service times on Sundays, including having morning services. We can also have a consistent worship time throughout the month. Temperature more comfortable in cooler months. Greater flexibility with midweek services, Holy Week and Christmas. A better size for a small congregation as we start out. Children's Sunday School room. Considerably less expensive.
Disadvantages: Lacks beauty (though we can take some steps to improve the beauty and add to our worship, e.g. add icons, altar frontal, image on wall above altar). Will require some set up such as adding altar rail/kneelers for receiving Holy Communion, kneeling cushions. Not such a good location, further from the centre and not so well known, not so accessible by public transport.
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Main Considerations overall:
What is the Lord calling us to?
How important is having a morning service (and consistent worship times) to the growth of our congregation?
How important is the beauty of the worship space itself in the vision we have for our worship?
How important is location for the drawing in of others?
Should we consider moving temporarily for the time of renovation or staying where we are until we find another location more beautiful and with the option of morning worship?
Worship Address: Adventist Church, Boomberglaan 6, Hilversum
Mailing Address: Robijn 13, 3893 EN Zeewolde
Contact: (+31) 06 124 104 31 revdgphillips@hotmail.com
Donations: NL75 INGB 0709 7677 49 (t.n.v. All Saints Anglican Church Amersfoort.)
(This All Saints account is designated for Ascension funds only.)
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Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Psalm 127:1,2