Stage 3 (auditorium and foyer, parent’s room and bathrooms) is likely to take 6-12 months to build. This may be a few years away as we raise finances, but there are many potential changes before that time comes. (Who knows what we will look like in 2 or 3 years!) 

However, we have already navigated several possibilities that could enable us to remain mostly, or completely, onsite. 

Given we do not know the size of our church gatherings over the next few years (and we are growing), it is likely we will need larger capacity options earlier than when the build begins. We are currently investigating these. 

We are working on the ministry centre and investigating office space with Anglicare. These spaces will also create more options for Sundays. 

Early options (things we could do): 

* Splitting the larger morning and evening services into smaller services to enable them to meet in the CEC for services 

* Setting up marquees and using other onsite buildings for children’s ministry on Sunday mornings 

* Moving Sunday worship services into a large marquee on the grass culvert whilst the children meet in the CEC 

* Liaising with Oakhill College and Anglicare, as we often do, regarding extra temporary parking options. 

* Talking with our partners at Anglicare about other potential future meeting spaces.  

Moving main worship meetings off site is most likely not possible given our size. 

One thing is sure: 

It may be a little tricky to work it out – but it could be very exciting, it might allow us to explore other options for the future in terms of multiplying services, it will require some patience and trial and error, we may need to develop some more service teams, even temporarily  – but it will not stop us doing the work we need for now and future generations. 

This is likely to be a time when we are forced to find new ways to run some of our ministries, but we are well set up for trying new things, and we have amazing teams of volunteers across our ministries.   

As a Church, we do need to devote ourselves to prayer as we try new things with the purpose of seeing how this short period might work well for our services and for youth group (as they also meet in the main auditorium on Friday nights). Who knows what God may bring out of these times – we could find amazing new ways to arrange services that we had not thought possible. 

We are having great partnership discussions with Anglicare and there are some good possibilities ahead of us. Praise God! If we were able to establish the required office space with them for our current staff, it is unlikely that this will be enough as we continue to grow. That is, we will foreseeably need more office space in the not-too-distant future.  However, Anglicare’s provision would certainly take the pressure off the immediacy of the need and provide a much-needed space for our current staff team for a significant period of time. 

Stage 2 of the main build also includes a large conference and meeting space upstairs (as well as the office space), as well as 4 significantly large rooms underneath, and more onsite accessible parking, and another playground. These are very much an important need for our growing kids and youth ministries, and also for our CityAlight ministry work. 

Anglicare may be able to provide a very much needed space very soon, for which we will be very thankful. but we will still require more space, and large activity rooms for our other ministries, as we are already near capacity with our existing rooms at peak times. 

We believe so. Community use is a part of their DA for their multi-level carpark. However, this may be a way off, and Oakhill is also not a short walk from our site and is currently along a poor footpath track along Old Northern Road.  Without shuttle buses, it is not the best option, except for special events when we can provide shuttle buses. (Which is great for special large events!) 

The car park we will provide clearly marked parking spots and pathways along with better lighting and signage this will improve general safety and reduce driver confusion.

By sealing the carpark and doing a small amount of levelling and retaining we will be able to maximise the available land for parking, in addition we will have marked parking spaces which improves the efficiency of parking spots.

Anglicare is also planning to build more parking and we believe we are not likely to lose overall capacity. However, we also know that this is beyond our scope. Our aim is to maximise the space we have, and that which is within our own hands. 

This will not depend just on the car park redevelopment and increased number of spaces.  This need will go hand in hand with other ministry decisions, as well as continued partnerships with Anglicare and Oakhill who are also facing similar challenges with parking on site. Even with the current parking arrangements, we have managed to fit 1000 people on site for Easter services. This was not ideal, but with the new arrangements and developing partnerships, there is potential to be able to cater for this number. 

The current development is an amendment of the existing DA (from the 1980s). Unfortunately there was no provision on this original DA for expanding the kitchen (or developing our playgrounds).  These areas could be considered on a separate DA after the current amended DA has been, prayerfully, approved. The discussion will then need to be around if we wish to rebuild the kitchen or refit the existing with a much more efficient design and equipment. We have some initial plans for a refit of existing kitchen which would require around $200,000 including appliances.  

All of our energy at this time has been to maintain and repair existing buildings, and to move forward on the car park, ministry centre and main auditorium and adjacent facilities. As these are on the verge of beginning construction, there will be time to turn towards these other important needs (of which there are many). But initial conversations started 6 months ago, and draft plans and costings have been acquired.  

We are thankful for those serving on the building sub-committee as the work is vast. It has, just in the past 18 months, included catch up of maintenance, development of bathrooms, painting of buildings and repairs of roofs. We are aware of the kitchen needs, but are unable to action progress until the major DAs have been assessed and returned. 

It should be noted that there will also be a second café/serving area located in the North end of the new foyer, as well as a new kitchen in the ministry centre which will both take a lot of pressure off the current kitchen area while we plan forward with this need also. 

Yes, we have certainly been considering these options, and we will continue to investigate these avenues. In a growing area such as Castle Hill, these would still be a short term solution and will add extra immediate pressure on all volunteers and staff (by, for example, doubling kids and music ministry teams). It is certainly an option, but for the long term, we do need to think of, for example, 4 services on a Sunday of 800 people. The dynamics of a large church are very different to smaller churches and the costs are financially much higher for these moves. Nonetheless, it is certainly on our radar and part of the multi-faceted approach for allowing God to grow his Church. 

At this stage, current donations are not tax–deductible. When plans are finalised and approved from Hornsby Council, we will then be able to assess which areas will be related in use in tax deductible areas through our trust fund, such as education and music.  

Fund raising, potentially loans (the smaller the better!) and the beginning of the Legacy Partners – a group of St Paul’s members who will be committed to engaging with our congregations to not only encourage and inspire us, but to seek the best ways to fund this development. We have a regular attendance of over 1000 adults on any Sunday. This will take sacrifice from every member, over the next few years.  It seems large but it is very much achievable for a church our size with the resources we have. Easy? No. Possible? Absolutely, but only under God! Pray first.  And remember – equal sacrifice, not equal giving.

We revisited the original master plan and D.A. (from the 1980’s) and we do have an option to build a new Auditorium on the southern boundary however it would take up a lot of valuable parking space and still only provide for 800 seats. The only way to make this viable was to provide undercover parking and include office space, the cost of this was up to $20M. From an affordability point of view and something that was achievable in stages the current plan was the best option. 

We are negotiating innovative ways of engaging builders and therefore reducing costs to the minimum, due to this the current cost estimates are similar to those we received in 2018 

The carpark is a relatively quick project, and we have the funds available our hope is to schedule this work over the January holiday period which will be the least disruptive time.   

Building the Ministry Centre as the next project will be helpful because we will be able to stage some of our moves through the building whilst we are waiting for other facilities to be completed, for example we will have to move out of the existing church offices in mid-2027 for up to 18 months whilst Anglicare are rebuilding the current office site (we expect to be able to take some office space in their new building once complete).  

As for the church redevelopment from a cost efficiency point of view it would be best to do both phases at the same time, however we may only have enough funds to complete the first stage (Auditorium and Foyer) starting this ASAP is our priority. 

Yes. We are keen to utilise CityAlight funds within the scope of works, particularly in those areas which are dedicated or utilised by our music ministry, training and development. 

It is possible, and we do keep watch for such grants. However, infrastructure grants are rare, and often not large. They can also bring limitations as to the use. However we are continuing to seek out these grants but we have not been aware of any so far. 

We have good staging options which will cost a little more than completing all the work at the same time. If we have all the finances up front, all at once is a great option and slightly cheaper, but construction in stages not a huge increase in costs, and allows us to begin stage 1 earlier. Increasing construction costs also make it a good option to complete stage 1 as early as possible rather than waiting to accrue funding for both stages.

YES! If you have any relevant building skills (Trade or Professional) Please let us know and one of the building sub–committee members will discuss the possibilities with you. Email building@stpauls.church