FAQs

In 2006, the leadership of the church were led to purchase the land at 126 Meeanee Road for future growth. The current oversight team is aligned with this original vision and believes this is the future for New Life Napier. Over recent years, the team has done background work to be ready when God says move.

We believe God has clearly spoken that now is the time to start the project in earnest. This also aligns with the oversight team believing that God spoke recently about growth at New Life Napier and our need to be ready. There are other practical issues that tie in, including the current resource consent, which allows us to develop the site, expiring in July 2030.

New Life Napier has had several prophetic words from outside ministries at various key times. These support what the previous and current oversight team believe God has been saying over the years.

1.      We believe growth is coming and we should build to the maximum size allowed under our resource consent.

2.      Enlarging a building after a few years is both very disruptive and costly.

There may be future reasons for this, such as reaching a wider community by having services at different times, or by growth beyond the building size. But our heart is for our church community to stay connected. We don’t believe that running multiple services on a permanent basis is God’s current plan for New Life Napier.

Our vision is to know God and make Him known. The new building will not change that and it will enhance it through more people coming into the church and having the space and ability to run bigger programmes, especially for children’s ministries.

The land area is 3.47 hectares. The building’s concept design is 1,925 square metres. This is subject to change as the design develops. In comparison, our current buildings are 1,124 square metres. The auditorium will have enough capacity for 600 seats.

We have created dedicated rooms for under 5s, primary and intermediate ages. These have been based on standard classroom sizes and can be expanded as needed through adjoining doors.

There will also be a large foyer, office spaces, a kitchen and toilets.

Our assumptions are based on what we believe God has said He will do in Napier and on current growth rate of New Life and what God is already doing here.

The main auditorium size is limited by resource consent constraints.

We want to ensure the final design and how it sits on the land provides future growth options for New Life Napier. We believe that God would have us ensure New Life Napier has a home to meet the needs of the church not just in the short term, but for the next 50 years or more.

We are engaging consultants who have worked on previous successful church projects and understand the needs of a modern community church. Our assumptions for all spaces are based on their expertise and experience.

In the interim the auditorium can be partitioned off until the congregation grows. Because we believe that God will provide the finance before we start construction, there will be no issues in terms of church regular income to pay off loans.

This will be in accordance with Napier City Council requirements.

View the concept design and building footprint here. Note that this is a concept only, detailed designs have yet to be created. The intention is to have a modern simple building.

Based on professional cost estimates, we are planning for a total cost of $13.5 million, including all professional fees, groundwork, construction, fitout and landscaping.

Final landscaping such as lawns, plants and trees are excluded.

We believe God will provide the strategies and miracle provisions. We are currently not planning to have significant borrowing for the project. How the finances will come in is in God’s hands. We are asking every member of New Life Napier to prayerfully consider how much they could contribute to this project.

We are currently working on a project programme with timings and milestones. We estimate that we will need to make a final decision on whether to begin construction by late 2028.

The oversight and trustees are very clear that wisdom and prudence is needed for this project. Jesus tells us in Luke 14:28 “Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?” We will not proceed if we don’t have a  clear understanding of where the money is coming from.

The project is lead by the oversight team and trustees, with Pastor Gareth Roberts, David Ironside and Des Parkinson providing key leadership. Gareth has a background in finance; David is a retired Architect with 45 years’ experience in commercial and public buildings. Des was a civil engineer working in transportation and three waters infrastructure. We will be drawing on church members to join focused teams overseeing Building Delivery, Funding, and Prayer.

The lead professional consultant is Napier local Richard Daniels, an architect at WSP.

Final decisions will be made by the oversight and trustees, in consultation with the professional consultants. Input will also be sought from the project Building Delivery Team, to be made up of church members with relevant experience.

What are the project milestones and timing?

Phase 1:

• Raise the finance

• Engage professional consultants and specialists

• Review concept design

Phase 2:

• Design phases progressed:

1.      Developed

2.      Detailed

• Estimating

• Finance

• Decision to proceed

Phase 3: Consenting

Phase 4:

• Procurement

Phase 5:

• Construction

• Fit out

• Further fundraising as required.

We will include regular updates in the church newsletter and website. Major milestones will also be shared through in person meetings or updates on Sunday mornings as required.