After renovations

A five-year renovation project to provide an open, welcoming place for community members to visit has been completed at Daylesford Community Church (DCC). The backyard, built with assistance from a BUV and Baptcare community engagement grant, was the final part of the upgrade and is now completed, and the popular pop-up café is also set to reopen soon. 

Elaine Anderson, responsible for Community Outreach at DCC, said: “It is very important to us to be building and reaching out to our community – it provides an opportunity to connect, interact and show the love of Christ in action. It allows the community to get to know the church and build a place of connection and care.” 

“The church is on a large but steep block and, as a result, the yard had never been developed or utilised. Pre Covid, in 2019, we were running a pop-up café, predominately for young families. It was so well attended by parents and children that the need for a family-friendly space was evident. It seemed like a worthwhile faith project to redevelop our church backyard into a space for kids and families. It has been exciting watching the transformation of the area into an attractive space for everyone but especially kids.”

The backyard was landscaped with a focus on child-friendliness, with picnic areas, seating, swings, cubby, slide, terracing, sandpit, stepping blocks, garden areas, fencing and a storage shed. Inside, the property received new lighting, flooring, entrance, basement café and multipurpose area, heating/cooling and painting.

Elaine said the renovation was possible “by the grace of God and with the generosity of the church members, community, BUV/Baptcare, and endless working bees”.

“This will be a space where the community meets the church and the church meets the community, a vehicle to expand our community connections, interaction, and overall strengthen relationships. We have had a couple of celebrations along the way as it has been a faith journey but when we look back on what has been accomplished, we think, ‘Wow God, how did that all happen?’” 

People of all ages are enjoying the new facilities through the church services, an Easter art exhibition, fortnightly kids church outreach, men’s breakfasts, weekly house of prayer meetings, women’s bible study and after-church banquet luncheons. 

The renovated space is obviously achieving what it set out to do. Elaine said the children are loving having a play area, and she had noticed that children wanted to stay and play whereas before the renovation, there was not much for them to do. “One person recently visiting our church walked in and said, ‘I love the fact that there is a place for kids here, it feels so welcoming for families and children’. We are also finding we are attracting more young families to the church.” 

The church is working on plans to welcome surrounding community members into the space more often, with the pop-up café hoping to open weekly and gear up to pre-covid levels.  In 2019 the café was in high demand with groups such as young families, a Neighbourhood House and elderly residents. Up to 40 locals would visit each time during its weekly, two-hour opening period.

Before Renovations