New £7M church planned for Norwich

The new Soul Church complex would be built on land home to the Mount Zion Family Life Church in Heartsease Lane prior to a blaze in February 2006.

 

In an online video, pastor Jon Norman said: “This is a statement to our city that the church is taking its rightful place again. This church will be a lighthouse to our Heartsease community, the local area but also to our city and our nations.”

 

The first stage of a redevelopment plan would cost £7 million and include a new auditorium, youth centre, cafe, nursery and indoor play area. Subject to local planning permission, it is hoped the initial phase will be completed by Easter 2020.

 

An indoor sports centre and accommodation for local homeless and vulnerable people would be provided during the second and third stages of the project.

Jon Norman added: “I actually believe it [the new church] will encourage, inspire and help many other church leaders not just in our city but in cities around the nations that if God can do it in Norwich, God can do it for you. So, we’re stepping out in faith.”

 

Soul Church, which is part of the Hillsong Family group of congregations, currently holds three services each Sunday and is outgrowing its current home on Mason Road.

The cost of the first phase will be partly met through the sale of Soul Church’s current site on Mason Road. According to the church, £1 million will need to be raised each year over the coming three years.

Click here to listen to Premier’s Alex Williams speaking with Jon Norman at Soul Church:

Proposals have been unveiled for a new 1,000-seat church on the site of another church destroyed by fire in Norwich eleven years ago.