The Lab House

2506049900 ecd8226d0e The Lab HouseLast week, went with Justin, Del, Cat, Steph and Dan to look around what will become our first Lab house. It’s a plan which has been in the works for a long time, but it’s really starting to become real now we have the house and we’ve been able to look around it.

I’ll be living in the house with Dan, Steph and Cat – who are all graduating this year in Newport and are taking a year out to work with The Lab, the university chaplaincy and St Paul’s, and hopefully to achieve something for the kingdom of God on Alway Estate – where the house is situated.

We’ll be living together in community with some form of neo-monastic-type rule to bring us together and keep us focused on God and on partnering with His mission for the estate around the house. The house was built as a vicarage and was found for us by Bishop Dominic and the wonderful important people (the RB) in Monmouth Diocese – who are letting us have it for free. It’s currently being renovated a bit to make it nice for us to live in, and so that it fits in with the Mulitiple Occupancy regulations.

Alway is one of the tougher (I think) estates in Newport – at least that’s what I keep being told – but it’s full of potential. Over the summer we’re hoping to work on some ideas for how to reach out and help the community around us so that we can really start something with the Lab community when we re-form in September. Ideas so far stretch from detached youthwork to a dog-walking service :-) Also, in September I’ll be starting working in an open youth club run by the Methodists which is just down the road in a neighbouring estate.

Our little project is creating a bit of a stir amongst the Anglicans and the Methodists across Newport who are pretty excited about it. We’ve got a few stumbling blocks to get over on the way, but things are really beginning to come together.

Stumbling block 1 is that we need to furnish the whole house from scratch, including beds, kitchen appliances, sofas etc. The diocese are putting in a new oven for us though.

And we also need to be able to replace at least some of the carpeting, which is damaged. This is going to cost a bit of money which we need to find.

Off to a Lab team meeting tonight to discuss next term and the house. Had a late start to the day after I (stupidly) left my lights on on my car overnight so had to get the AA man out to jump-start me. Thank God (and my mummy) for my AA membership.

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