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With the completion of the
kitchen, the refurbishment is pretty much complete. This
page will remain as a reminder of the wonderful
transformation that we have seen, but for more recent
news of what is happening at the chapel, please return
to the current News page.
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 The kitchen on
March 15 ... what do you think of it so far?
Yes, I know it looks just like I
described it 2 weeks ago, but a lot of hard graft has gone into preparing for repainting.
We have the blisters and blood stains to prove
it! And its starting to look like the picture
below, don't you think?
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On Saturday 27th February, a
working party descended on the chapel, armed with big
hammers, crow bars and other intimidating
implements, to commence work on the new kitchen.
The party certainly left their mark as, within a couple
of hours or so, the kitchen was reduced to an empty
shell.
Meanwhile, work also took place outside to re-mount
the Welcome sign, which has been framed and generally
strengthened. Also, a new cabinet was installed
in the chapel, specially modified to house
electrical equipment and hide that jumble of unsightly
wires.
All in all, a good morning's work. Now comes the
hard bit - putting the kitchen back together
again!
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 January 2009.
The kitchen has arrived. At present it is still in
boxes and scattered in various places around the
building, but our gallant team of volunteers will soon
set about ripping out the old and transforming this
slightly scruffy corner into the vision of tranquility
and culinary creativeness that you see pictured on the
right.
Quite how they manage to make it look twice as big as
the current space, I have no idea, but such is the
wonder of technology. Time will tell.
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October 2008. Following the
awarding of the District grant, replacement windows have
now been installed by A Touch Of Glass, and they have
made a fine job of it. The meeting room in particular is
much brighter due to the use of clear (rather
than frosted) glass,
and it is lovely to be able to see birds in
the hedge outside. We now intend to have a major tidy up,
attending to storage issues, and should soon have a cosy
and welcoming meeting room which lend itself to many uses.
The
trouble with making the rest of the building look so nice, and
especially with those lovely new windows letting in so much more
light, is that the kitchen now looks distinctly scruffy. I feel
another project coming on!
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September 2008. Following the
huge effort to get the worship area ready for the big
re-opening (see below) we treated ourselves to a bit of
a break over the summer. There is still
much work to do, but we have great news.
We have been awarded two grants, £4000 from the Methodist Church,
South East District, and a further
£500 from the London Mission Fund. Not only does this
bring us much closer to our target, but it is also
encouraging to know that our work in a sleepy little
backwater of Sussex is recognised and valued at District
level.
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 15th June 2008 saw the
re-opening and re-dedication of the refurbished chapel.
Two special services marked the occasion, with morning
worship being led in typically lively (and slightly
unpredictable) fashion by Pen Wilcock, and Dawn
Carn, who was sporting her dog-collar for the first time
at Pett.
During the evening service we were
on our best behaviour for a visit from Revd Sheila
Foreman, the Assistant Chair of the Methodist District.
Both services saw the
chapel virtually packed to  capacity, and
although, in the end, we didn't quite
need the video link to the hall (our overspill
back up plan), we were only two bodies
away from needing to do so. 
All in all,
a great weekend, and hopefully indicative of good things
to come.
I think this is a good time
to pay tribute to all those who have given so generously
of their time,
money and prayers. Just don't leave the country ... we ain't finished with you yet!
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 The carpet is down, and some of the chairs have
been moved through. You can't see it in this picture,
but the pulpit and other items of wooden furniture have
been re-finished, making them look as good as new.
The end of Phase 1 is in sight. Only now can we start
to see the real benefit of the new lighting,
especially seeing Bernard's cross lit up so
beautifully.
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 A big day - the new chairs arrived on
Friday 30th May.
A certain amount of re-organisation was
necessary to accommodate them as they can not go into
the chapel until after the carpet has been laid (on
Monday). You will be familiar with the expression "can't
see the wood for the trees" ... well, as I write, we
have the somewhat bizarre situation of having nowhere to
sit due to the chairs. However, one option is to move
outside, where one of the old bench pews has taken up
residence in our new garden area, providing a lovely
corner for anyone to sit awhile and enjoy this peaceful
space.
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 Thanks to the efforts of our small team of
volunteers, working whenever time allows, the project is
making good progress. Squeaks have been virtually
eliminated, all woodwork re-painted, and the new lights
installed and working. Following a demonstration, we
decided against a plan to install a sophisticated (and
fairly expensive)  lighting scheme in the
sanctuary area on the basis that the effect didn't come
up to expectations, and the proposed outlay could
therefore not be justified. We will continue to explore
other options, but in the meantime the wiring is now in
place to make installation simple as and when we find
the right solution.
The old "Welcome" sign was removed
to make way for a new (and more welcoming)
replacement.
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The new ceiling looks lovely
but, as you can see, the lights look a bit wonky.
However, work is now underway to replace these and to
upgrade the wiring generally. In order to make a
tidy job of it a number of floorboards have been lifted,
which will also enable us to cure a few irritating
squeaks.  We are also taking the opportunity to make some
modifications to the communion rail. Derek and Alan
can be seen here searching for squeaks ... and they are
leaving no stone unturned. 
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As the pews were attached to the
walls with a central aisle, it is necessary to make one
free-standing seat from two pews. It falls to David,
Derek and Keith to remove the ends from one side and
attach them to
the opposite pew ... and
we are quite pleased with the result. Most have already been
spoken for, but there may be one or two
left, along with some of the
older benches, so if you are interested,
please drop us an e-mail.
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 Tuesday 25 March - The Purser Brothers begin
work on the ceiling and structural timbers. Over the
next two  weeks they will remove the
ceiling, treat all timber for woodworm, rot etc.,
insulate and re-board. Then the ceiling and high timbers
will be painted.
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Easter Monday - March 24, 2008. The Big Refurbishment
begins.
 The chapel is stripped out - The organ, keyboard
and other moveable items are removed. The small
meeting room becomes the main storage area for any items
that won't be needed for the next few weeks. Meanwhile,
the main hall becomes the main worship area, thus
returning to its original use.
 Pews are removed and stacked to make room
for
the next stage of the work, and the
carpet is removed and disposed of. Tower scaffold is brought in and
erected.
Thanks to a good turn out of willing
volunteers, the work is completed by around lunch time,
so we can all go and fall asleep in front of the
telly.
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Easter Weekend (March 21-24).
The last few days at 
"Pett with pews" were very busy, with a moving service
on Good Friday (see news page) being followed by a
Coffee Morning with Thank Offering on the Saturday.
Friends joined us from around the Circuit, and something
like £800 was raised during the day.
On Easter Sunday, the final service with pews was led
by our own minister, Rev Malcolm Hope.
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February - A schedule of works has now been prepared,
which looks something like this;
- Easter Monday, March 24 -
Work commences with a volunteers working party. We
will first move certain items from the chapel to the
church hall to prevent damage, and to enable
us to continue our normal pattern of worship as the
refurbishment proceeds. We will then remove pews,
strip out the carpet, examine the squeaky floor, and
prepare the area for the specialists. The organ will
be removed for disposal (hopefully to a new home).
- Tuesday March 25 -
Contractors will arrive to carry out wood preservation
treatment and repairs to the fabric as necessary. This
will include the removal and replacement of ceiling
panels, and may involve the replacement of some floor
joists.
- April - More volunteer labour
will be required to redecorate the main worship area.
The electrical supply will be overhauled and a
new lighting system will be installed. Damaged glazing
will be repaired and safety glass fitted to doors
as necessary. New shelving will be made and
installed along the back wall.
- May - The new carpet will be
fitted and we will take delivery of the chairs. Also,
a new Yamaha keyboard will arrive to replace the old
organ and piano.
- Following the re-opening of the chapel in June, we
will turn our attention to the small meeting room at
the rear. This will benefit from redecoration and new
storage, and new double-glazed windows will be fitted
to all rooms at the rear of the building.
The above itinerary is for guidance, and provides
important milestones to ensure that the first part of
the refurbishment, that of the main worship area, is
completed by our target date, our church anniversary on
15 June. All being well, we hope that the work will be
completed comfortably ahead of schedule.
Of course, as the work progresses, we must not forget
that we are still around £5k short of the amount needed
to complete the whole programme of works, so efforts
must continue to be made in the fund raising
department.
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| January 22, 2008 - Great news -
We have just heard that DRM has approved our scheme. No
objections were raised by any party, and there are no
special
conditions (at least none that
we didn't expect). The stewards will meet soon
to compile a schedule of works to guide us
through the programme.
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November 2007 - A potential setback. The Department
for Resources For Mission (formerly the Methodist Church
Property Department) have called in the scheme for
scrutiny due to the Grade 2 listed status of the old
part of the building. We are required to submit detailed
plans along with a comprehensive case file, describing
how the proposed work will benefit the mission of the
church. Before sanction can be given, the DRM will have
to consult with English Heritage, the Local Planning
Authority, the Listed Building Advisory Committee, and
other organisations to ensure that none have any
objection to the scheme.
We feel that it is most unlikely that this will
impact on the scheme, which does not affect the original
chapel (the listed bit), but we can not proceed until
the DRM has given the go-ahead. While we appreciate the
need to follow the correct procedures, we just hope that
the process will not be unduly long-winded, thus
delaying the work which we hope to start immediately
after Easter.
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September 2007 - The scheme
received a huge boost with the offer of a grant of
£10,000 from the Circuit Advance Fund. Apart from the
obvious financial benefit, we received great
encouragement from the gracious and unanimous support
shown by the Circuit Meeting.
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2006-7. Dawn Carn inherited
from Pen the responsibility for the pastoral care of
Pett Chapel, and her enthusiasm for the project helped
to ensure that it would become a reality. Serious
fund-raising commenced and a detailed scheme was
prepared, choices made and quotations sought. The
scheme, in the main worship area, will include new
seating, lighting, carpets, and a replacement for our
ageing organ. Meanwhile, the smaller meeting room
will benefit from new storage and a general facelift,
and the entire rear of the building will be fitted
with replacement windows. In all, the result will
be a welcoming and very flexible suite of rooms
which will enhance our church life and support our
ministry in the village.
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 THE
BACKGROUND 2005-6.
It was during the year that Pen Wilcock was appointed as
minister at Pett that we first started to consider the
possibility of making changes to the worship area in our
chapel. We recognised that the pews were a barrier to
flexibility in
the ways that we use the space (both
within
worship and for other
purposes), and despite a certain amount of affection for the traditional pews, we decided
to go ahead with removal. The following months saw much
discussion about the extent of the proposed work and
how it might affect our work and mission.
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