REGENERATE

REGENERATE2024-06-27T10:56:43+00:00

As a parish we stand on the shoulders of giants. Those who have gone before us and who have done so much to build up the life of the church. We have inherited what they have built and we are tasked to pass the faith on to the next generation.

Over the last two years the PCC have been developing plans for the redevelopment of the nave. As you will have seen, the physical fabric of the church is in need of some work. The carpets are unsuitable for the building and cover uneven worn flooring. The seating is inflexible and uncomfortable, the pillars are degrading at the base and need to be looked at. There is considerable work needed to bring the structure up to scratch and fit for mission.

The Statements of Need and Significance produced by the Buildings Committee and some very early outline plans produced by our architect are below for you to comment on. They are very exciting indeed but we are at an early stage and want to take it step by step.

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ASPIRATION

  • Increasing Flexibility
    We want to increase our offering to the communities of Sheffield by opening up our building. Although our church building is primarily for worship, and always will be, we do need to use it for other purposes too e.g. the parish nursing service, lunches for those in need, teaching, concerts/events. The flooring of the church is uneven and poorly covered and disabled access is restricted.
  • Improving Facilities
    The church has underused areas at the back which we want to transform into usable, practical facilities. One would provide a confidential space for people to meet with the parish priest/ or nurses. The other area would provide much needed facilities for hospitality including a small kitchenette and fridges. This would enable us to serve people better following in the great traditions of hospitality built up at St Matthew’s over the generations.
  • Enhancing and beautifying the church building
    The church is renowned for the quality its artwork. However a lot of glory has covered up in carpeting and layers of paint including our beautiful chancel Arts& Crafts tiles and stencilling. We would like to restore these and thereby improve the overall aesthetic of the church building.

OUR PLANS

We appointed Ulrike Knox (from Knox McConnell Architects), architect of Liverpool Cathedral, as architect in 2019. Her initial plans offer us a really exciting vision of a renewed building fit for mission in the 21st century, but also one which respects the beauty of one of Sheffield’s hidden gems. It offers a balance between the Church building existing primarily as a space for the worship of God but with the flexibility to host the various ministries of our parish. 

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