The elusive building permit has been holding up our project for many months, but at this point we are confident that our building permit is within reach – although we are not 100% sure when! However, we are so confident that we have begun the preparations around our current facility to ready ourselves for construction.

What you'll see around APC:

• Room 215 will be incorporated into our Children's Wing, so our CreativeAPC team 'headquarters' will be temporarily relocated to Room 228. Their final destination will be Room 222 which will be under construction soon to suit their needs.
• Room 224/225 has been combined to create a large room that will provide a space that ministries who previously used the Chapel will be located
• The Chapel will not be available for use after the May 27 weekend
• South Foyer, where the Chapel and the Reception area are located, will be closed as of May 22. The Main Foyer entrance will be the entrance to use during the week, during business hours

Please continue to pray! We still need to have the building permit in hand, to pray for the construction as we begin to create and re-create spaces, for flexibility and grace (there will be a lot of moving around and changing of rooms during the course of construction).

We are entering a very exciting time! The fruition of many years of praying, dreaming, and planning is finally happening!

• Facility planning for “The Next Generation” approved by the Board of Deacons (November 4, 2008)
• APC’s Building Committee, with the help of Redbox Design Group (student education design specialists) prepared plans
• Engagement of Reinders and Reider Ltd as our architects (November 2009)
• Presentation to and approval by members to proceed (September 26, 2010)
• Presentation to congregation with a message about “The Next Generation” (April 30/May 1, 2011)
• Fundraising began with pledges and offerings (during 2011, $281,105.45 was raised)
• Phase 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the required archeological study was completed over six months (2011)
• Many meetings to remove property changes required by the City of Toronto resulted in $80,000 of savings for us
• PRESENTLY awaiting a building permit from the City

PLEASE BE IN PRAYER!

At this point, our archaeological survey has moved forward allowing submission of our building plans to Community Planning at the City of Toronto. This represents a significant step forward in the building permit application process. It does not guarantee a date on which shovels will go into the ground. However, it does show we have made great progress towards that date.

Continue praying for God's leading and wisdom in this project. The members of the Building Committee continue working faithfully to bring the needs of APC's church families to the design of this structure and to ensure everything is ready for each next step made available to us by City Planners. As we entrust the plans to His care, God can influence the hearts and spirits of our government officials to favourably consider the future needs of our ministries.

Giving Update

So exciting to be able to say that we have surpassed the $100,000 mark! Thank you for your generosity and continued support for this important expansion project.

So be praying:

• with thanksgiving... we are expanding our building to reach and disciple more people, with a strong sense of unity and destiny, and the funds continue to come into our Building Expansion Fund.
• for timely advancement... that nothing would interfere with God's timing on this expression of kingdom advancement in Toronto. Also, that the Lord would give us favour with all officials and safety for workers, and a wonderful ministry centre.

As we continue to prepare through giving and pledging, let us also continue to "pre-prayer".

Each classroom will be designed around four principles:

1) Teach

A raised stage area for where the lessons are taught and acted out. Equipped with a large magnetic white board, television and display area.

2) Art

Glue! Construction paper! Crayons! Markers! An area where children can create, and actively engage in the lesson taught.

3) Play

A play area for children to be active and socialize. An integral part of building friendships for children.

4) Read

Based on these principles, each age group will have access to an environment that will help themes and lessons come across in a way that is clear and alive.

On other note:

Numbers are in from last weekend, May 14/15. It is so exciting to watch these numbers grow because it's an indication of the unity that we have in building this expansion to our facility – in order to reach more people; building the kingdom together!

• Giving updates
• Video, photos about the project
• Updates on construction progress
• Notices about ministries affected by construction

The project:

The budgeted cost of the expansion is $3.1 million. As a church family, we have already saved $2.0 million to-date, with wise direction from our board of deacons. So, we've got $1.1 million to raise through this special building fund project. Our goal is reach this amount by our next anniversary, May 2012.

Pastor Smith has invited our children and teens to take part and join every adult to participate in this church family project. The challenge is for each one to give something that means a personal sacrifice for them. It's a big amount, but we can make it if we all do our part.

Pledges and Giving

So, how are we doing? These amounts are current from our May 7/8, 2011 services: pledge cards turned in and funds already given. Pledges and funds contributed from May 14/15 weekend will be available later this week.

Questions about project designs can be directed to Pastor Jeff Hackett
[ jhackett[at]apchurch.com | 416-291-9575 ext. 236 ].

Looking forward to reporting great progress and keeping everyone in the loop!