Construction of the new St Barnabas, Broadway is well underway with excavation of the site completed.
The 150-year-old church building was destroyed by fire in 2006, leaving the church community feeling like they had "lost a member of the family.'
The old building was finally farewelled on February 4, 2010, 151 years to the day after the first service was held there. Demolition work commenced on February 19 with Bishop Rob Forsyth swinging the first blow.
In preparation for the new building to be erected, excavation at the site commenced in August and has been recently been completed. Concrete pilings that will support the building have also now been poured.
The next stage of construction is some finer excavation work, which will make way for the concrete slab to be poured.
In order to realise the vision of a new church building the Barneys community has had to undertake fundraising to assist in raising the $16 million final cost of construction. Around $10 million will be paid from insurance monies and a special grant from the Diocese of Sydney.
The church community, with assistance from many other supporters, has currently raised more $2.5 million of the almost $6 million needed from fundraising. That has been raised through donations as well as dedicated fundraising events including the Seven Churches Walk, held in September, which raised $136,000.
Rector Mike Paget is thankful to God for the generosity that His people have shown towards the Barneys family.
"These funds have been raised due to the generosity of the Barneys community and some people outside the church," he said. "We still need to raise about $3.2 million. We hope to approach people who have benefited from the ministry of Barneys over the last 20 years and encourage them to support our ongoing ministry to some of the poorest members of our community; university students and international students."
Barneys has not let the lack of a church building impede on its ministry. The annual Carols in Vic Park will be held on December 11. Mr Paget believes that it is a great way to make connections with the local community and expects over 1000 people to attend the event held in the notorious park
The Barneys family is watching construction eagerly and looking forward to having a building that will allow them to grow God's kingdom.
"We're really excited about this new building" it's going to be a central hub of the community that is a place for evangelism and training," Mr Paget said. "A building doesn't evangelise people but we believe that it can speak to the nature of its community and communicate the values and beliefs of the community."
Rebuilding work at the Broadway site is due for completion late 2011 or early 2012.
