A £50,000 revamp of Evenwood’s Cornerstone Christian Centre is nearing completion.
When the new pastor for the Assemblies of God Church, Andrew Kay, took over in 2021 the ceiling in the rear hall had caved in and damp was setting in in the main hall. Now the rear hall has had a complete renovation including new toilets, and the centre room with its kitchen has had a major overhaul.
Pr Kay hopes the main hall will be finished towards the end of the summer allowing the centre to welcome in the community. Currently the centre room is used for church while repair work continues in the main hall.
The pastor said: “We needed roof work doing because it was leaking. It was the best part of £20,000 for the work in here. Eventually the tables will go in here and it will be more of a café area for the community with people coming in and getting their coffee and cake.”
The rear hall currently stores the tables and chairs, but the plan is for that to be a community hub, supporting a toddler group, youth group, and anything else people want to use it for.
Pr Kay said: “We are really pleased with it. It looks like it is fit for purpose now, it wasn’t before.”
By coincidence Pr Kay is celebrating the 25th anniversary of his marriage to wife Amanda and the couple were married at Cornerstone, shortly after its last refurbishment.
He said: “Literally they laid the carpet a week before we were married, and we are keeping that carpet, that carpet is good, everywhere else we have had to replace – new kitchen, new floors, new toilets.
“Even down to the doors. The carpenter has had to rebuild the frame around every single door – because it is an old building, they don’t make those doors anymore.”
The refurbishment comes at a time when the congregation is continuing to grow, and it now boasts more than 40 people.
The pastor said: “That doesn’t sound a lot but for us it is in a small village.
“Since Covid we have seen growth rather than decline like other churches have. We do believe God has really blessed us with so many people, and finances come in at just the right time when we needed it. We are not short of anything.
“Whatever we’ve needed to do on the building, we have been able to do.”
It cost about £11,500 to redo the rear hall. Some of the funding came from Teesdale Action Partnership.
Pr Kay said: “The work [in the main hall] will be the biggest chunk – about £20,000 – it needs plastering everywhere and we need to get rid of the damp.”
He hopes the entire building will be completed by the summer or early autumn.
