EFCA

Today, we have more than 600 people each Sunday attending three language-congregations at 5 worship services in 4 different locations, of which 3 are leased hence subject to the uncertainties of rental increase and lease expiry.

For a long time our church has felt the severe physical constraints on the growth of the congregation. The dispersed locations means duplication of ministries and inconveniences, e.g., children Sunday school for almost every service, and Cantonese and Mandarin parents have to drive out to Lindfield, drop their children at SWITCH, then drive back to Chatswood for service.

Besides, some of the congregations are outgrowing their premises, whereas others may benefit from added growth impetus if moved to a better venue with better facilities. For instance, growth at the Cantonese service at Zenith has given birth to an additional service; SWITCH has already outgrown the side hall at East Lindfield; and Boys Brigade has for many years suffered from lack of grounds for activities. On the other hand, we believe a new church venue with better facilities will further boost the growth at Mandarin and English.

Brothers and sisters at all three language-congregations have been very accommodating over the past years, but we feel the time is ripe for us to acquire a second home ground for EFCA after East Lindfield. God has been gracious in blessing us with the East Lindfield church, and since we acquired it in 1995, EFCA has grown a lot, but we feel that the church there has become grossly insufficient as a base for EFCA to grow into the next era, both due to its limited space and development potential, and distance from transport and activity centres.

現在，我們每週有超過六百人參加崇拜，以 三種語言分別在四個不同地點的舉行五堂的聚會。其中三個地點是租用的，無可避免受加租及租約期滿的不明確因 素所影響。

長期以來，教會受 到場地的限制而影響人數的增長。由於在不同地點崇拜，引起事工重疊和不便，例如：各堂都需要兒童主日學、廣東 話和普通話堂的父母要駕車送子女去Lindfield參加SWITCH，然後才可到車士活參加崇拜。

此外，有一些聚會點的人數已超過場地 所能容納，而其他的聚會點若果能搬遷到一個較好設施的場地，則在人數上可能有較大的增長。正如在神樂中心的廣東話崇拜，因人數增長而要加設一堂崇 拜；SWITCH已超過East Lindfield教會副堂所能容納；而基督少年軍因多年來缺乏活動場地而有所影響。從另一方面來看，我們相信一個有較好設施的教會物業將會促進普通話及 英語崇拜人數的增長。

在過往幾年，三個語言崇拜的會眾已經十分包容在場地上的限制，因此我們感到現在已經時機成熟，讓靈福堂繼East Lindfield之後去建立另一個基址。自從1995年我們購置East Lindfield教會，神以祂的恩典賜福靈福堂。雖然教會在購堂後已有很大的成長，但是我們感到在地方使用上已經不足以讓靈福堂進入另一個新紀元的發 展。這不單是因為地方不敷和缺乏發展潛力，也因為地點距離公共交通和活動中心頗遠的緣故。

Stages of Development  發展階段

Based on current estimate, this project will cost around $15 million.  We envisage that the church development will occur in three stages 根據目前的估計，建堂計劃將耗資約1千5百萬元。我們期望的建堂發展是分三個階段:

The Next Step 下一步計劃

Given the cost of land or real property purchase, the current lack of adequate funds and the cost of funding, our church will only actively look for and pursue suitable land once we have received commitments of at least $4 million in free will donation and at least $1 million in interest free loans. In the meantime, the church will continue to monitor the market and inform the congregation should any suitable opportunities arise. 鑑於購置土地或物業所須的費用高昂，而教會目前缺乏足夠的資金和借貸的費用， 教會會首先籌集最少400萬元自由奉獻和100萬元免息貸款的認獻，方積極尋找合適的土地。與此同時，教會會繼續留意地產市場，如有合適的發展機會便會告知會眾。