An extraordinary giving campaign has seen the congregation of Soul Survivor Church Watford – out of which the Soul Survivor and Naturally Supernatural festivals grew – donate £1,789,628 to fund a rebuilding project.
Soul Survivor announced the impending closure of its long-running festivals last month. The main festival will take place for the last time this summer, while Naturally Supernatural will end next year.
However, the church in Watford has a thriving ministry and is looking to expand its facilities with a total rebuild of one of the two adjacent warehouses where it meets.
Warehouse 5, the first of the two to be bought, will be flattened and rebuilt making the most of the site's potential.
In a video released before the gift day, co-pastors Mike Pilavachi and Andy Croft say that the old building felt 'claustrophobic' on Sunday morning because it is too full and newcomers wondered 'whether there was room for them'. Space for children and young people is also inadequate.
The new building will have a glass entrance, an auditorium, classrooms for children, family rooms and office space. The different spaces will be multi-purpose and flexible, with moveable walls.
Mike Pilavachi told Christian Today of the church's giving: 'I am amazed, thrilled, staggered. We're not a rich church. The folk who were counting were in tears as they opened the envelopes – everyone has given sacrificially.'
He said the vision for the church's future had been presented over a series of community meals so everyone had a chance to own it.
'It's such an encouragement after the announcement we made last month. Our vision is to serve through the local church – the most important person in the church is the person who hasn't walked through the door yet.'
Referring to the successive expansions of the church during the 27 years since it was founded with 11 people in a house, he said: 'Each time, it's so that we could make space for those who were not there yet.
'This was a day I'll never forget.'
