Update 1, May 2008

Every so often in the life of a nation, an institution or a community the stories that people tell cease to have the power they once had or they cease to be relevant to a changing situation or they stop being a good guide to the future. Narratives that once enthralled us become simply echoes of the past without the power to hold the future.

When that happens there is often a moment of crisis as people hunt around for a new story, a fresh narrative. The crisis is inevitable because we are human beings and as human beings we respond to changing circumstances in different ways.

• Some of us will simply hold on to the old story because, inadequate as it may be, it is all we know. If the world around us is changing then holding on to the old story can be the only source of stability and comfort.
• Some of us will recognise that the old story is no longer useful, we are happy to abandon it but aren't all that happy with writing a new one.
• Some of us love dreaming up new stories but find ourselves writing so many that we aren't sure which one is the most helpful.

About a year ago we came to a crisis point about the church halls. The crisis had been brewing for a while as we had been spending some considerable time over the preceding months looking at the old story and considering whether that story was able to work for us as a guide to the future. That was a very important process and I'm enormously grateful to those who challenged us to look at that narrative and see if it still had any mileage.

That old story is well known to many. In July last year the PCC committed itself to beginning a process of writing a new story about the church halls. One or two things happened very quickly. First, the new story acquired a new title, The St Andrew's Centre. That's a title that we are going to get used to over the next few months as we write the pages of the new book.

Next, the PCC appointed some authors to write the contents page of the new book. That group has been working hard over the autumn and reported back to PCC last month. Here are some of the chapter headings of the new story of the St Andrew's Centre:

• A project funded by the church as a gift to the community (a gospel principle)
• A phased project (to minimise disruption to existing activities)
• A major 'renovate and extend' project (rather than a knock down and rebuild project)

These three chapters are Key Distinctive Features of the new story and many of you will recognise that they represent a commitment to a clearly new direction in our history of projects for this site. Other chapters include the provision of a Café as part of a central 'hub' drawing people in and providing a focus for the community, and a project that seeks to be as eco-friendly as possible within the constraints of location, finance and available technology.

I believe that the task of writing this new story, the St Andrew's Centre story, is well within our grasp. The PCC, as those charged with the vision and leadership of the church, are completely behind the project. I also believe that God is calling us to listen to Him for each and every chapter and that He is calling each and every one of us to participate in writing the narrative.

One thing the Lord has made clear to us already: the new story is not a story about a building project but a story about the mission of the church. The halls today are well used in our mission to our community; the St Andrew's Centre will expand that mission in new and exciting directions.

Please pray for this project; prayer has been absolutely key to getting us to where we are now and I know that it will continue to be in the future. And, of course, do come and talk to me or other members of the PCC about how things are going. We will be keeping you informed as the story unfolds and ask now that we all come together prayerfully in this project to the glory of our Lord Jesus and as an expression of His love for the people of Histon.

Yours
James

Contact the Church Office or telephone 01223 232255 for further details.