29 BURROWS STREET, WAN CHAI

VINECENTREUPDATE BOOKLET // February 2012

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It has been an incredible six months since we began services at Vine Centre Wan Chai in July 2011. We have been aware of a heightened sense of the presence of God in our services, begun to make friends with our local community and fine-tuned our mission statement to reflect three key words: Presence, Passion and Purpose.

We have been greatly encouraged by the enthusiasm of our faithful congregation who have responded to the significant changes very well, especially as we have shared the challenges we are facing in the financial area. We have also been able to begin a transition in church leadership that we believe will set the church up for future growth and ensure a continuity of a servant team leadership for generations to come.

And yet, the first six months have carried the frustrations that a nearly-completed building brings. Because there is still ongoing work in the building, there is a strange feeling that it is ours, but not quite ours - if you can see what we mean? The reality is that we did not expect to find ourselves in a situation (six months after moving in) of the building still not being completed.

The good news is that the end is now in sight and we are looking forward to having the build-ing fully completed in the new few months. In this update booklet you will find out the latest updates on the building along with our current financial situation. As we have prayed about 2012, we have sensed God leading us to proclaim the ‘Year of Jubilee’. For us at The Vine, we believe it right for us to declare that we should be debt free in 2012. And we believe that this will herald a new season as the Vine Centre is fully utilized for God’s glory in the church and in the community. We are excited to finally be able to move forward with the vision that God has given us as a church.

We are grateful for the many faithful supporters of the church, both in HK and overseas. You have been an inspiration to us and we are both honoured and thankful for your consistent support.

With every blessing,Ps. Tony Read & Ps. John Snelgrove

PASTORS LETTER

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SERVICES // As we have gotten used to our new pattern of one morning service and one afternoon service we can see that the morning service is now 90% full. At this service the chil-dren’s K4C ministry and crèche are operating at full capacity and have no room for expansion. The 4pm service is about 60% capacity, using the lower house only, and with crèche facilities only. In the coming months we will be exploring how to maximize the use of the 4pm service by offering a K4C children’s ministry to attract more family participation. We are also consid-ering introducing a more Chinese-friendly approach for friends and family who are not fully comfortable with an English-only service. BUILDING USE AND FACILITIES // During the last 4 months we have had to get used to look-ing after a building as well as running a church. This has certainly placed extra strain on our operations, requiring new skills and working things out to some extent by trial and error. As the building is finally nearing completion we are taking on more and more responsibility for lighting, air conditioning, cleaning, security and general upkeep. We are also aware that we want this building to be your home and to have a warm and welcoming atmosphere as we work together in this new season. In the coming months we will be exploring how we can do this well by providing a good balance between running a well-managed church facility and providing a place of refuge, relaxation and ministry.

EXTERNAL BOOKINGS // In the coming months we will be making the auditorium and other facilities available for external use on a rental basis. We are exploring how best to do this whilst balancing the different needs and priorities of various groups of users with our own church. We believe that this will be a significant step towards our vision to make this a centre used both by the local community and by business and arts groups. We hope to see this building and our church facility become a busy and exciting venue in Wan Chai which is well-known for it’s welcoming availability as well as a place where the name of Jesus is glorified and lives are transformed.

The vision for this project has been to restore the old Imperial Cinema located in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong to become a community church and centre, which is used to transform our city. The Vine Church has been addressing the needs of numerous gender and ethnic groups for 14 years and our vision is to use our new centre to continue our work and to reach more individuals.

OUR VISION

PROJECT UPDATE

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The total project costs are HK$62M. Since the beginning of the project in May 2009, we have raised HK$38.5M. This leaves a gap of HK$23.5M, which has been secured though a $12.5M bank loan, and $13M in personal loans.

In December 2011 our loan repayments of around $700,000 per month commenced. This co-incided with the end of our rent-free period of VC2, which means that our monthly expenses have increased to around HK$2.5M per month.

INTEREST FREE LOANS100,000 REPAID (AS OF FEB 2012)

BANK LOAN1.7M REPAID (AS OF FEB 2012)

~$25.5 million gap currently met by bank and personal loans

TOTAL EXPENSES VS OUR TOTAL FUNDS RAISED UP UNTIL Q4 OF 2011

OVERVIEW OF OUR LOANS

13M

12.5M

FINANCIAL UPDATE

EXTERIOR

We have been very pleased with the “Vine” design on the outside of the building. We feel that it is striking and contemporary, but more than that, it gives us a “presence” in the community. Our hope is that the Vine Centre will become an iconic landmark in Wan Chai, known as a place committed to God, the community, and to the arts.

There is still some structural work to be completed on the exterior of the building, including the completion of the canopy and the installation of Chinese characters next to our logo.

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G/F LOBBY

Our partnership with Pacific Coffee is working well and we have been blessed to see so many people from the community coming into our building. Our concierge desk is now up and run-ning, and we have also been using the lobby on Sundays to create a newcomers area where we can welcome and meet newcomers to our church over a cup of coffee.

The remaining work to be completed in the lobby is our church branding and signs letting people know more about our church and the facilities in the building.

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1/F FUNCTION ROOMS

The 1/F is mostly up and running now. We have been using the rooms for Kidz 4 Christ on Sun-days, as well as during the week for various different groups such as our refugee and asylum seekers, Manna, Worship Team training, and others. Flight 852 and Oneighty use the mini-hall for their main meetings on Friday and Saturday nights.

There are still some small things that need to be completed such as the AV inputs to allow people to use the TVs properly in each room, and the kitchen is still in the process of being completed.

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2/F AUDITORIUM

We have been using our auditorium now for 6 months, and for the most part things have gone very smoothly. As with every major move, there is always a period of adapting to our new home. Services have been running well and our Champions and Facilities teams have done a fantastic job figuring out all of the logistics. We have already held a wedding and a charity event in the auditorium which have allowed us test drive the process of hiring to exter-nal parties, and we look forward to being able to take a lot more bookings for events in 2012.

There is still ongoing AV work in the auditorium, with lighting and projector work still being carried out. There is also a problem with the partition doors that close to separate the lower and upper houses, and that will be rectified in the coming weeks.

FACILITY OFFICE

The facilities staff have been operating for the last 6 months from the 3/F of The Vine Centre. The office has become a temporary storage place for valuable equip-ment and items, and the facilities staff are looking forward to being able to find permanent homes for those items in the coming weeks. The facilities staff work in shifts to en-sure that the Vine Centre is able to operate, and they are working hard towards being able to accommodate more internal and external bookings in 2012.

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FAQ

What has happened to The Vine office?The Vine office has now moved from Central to our new office space in the Times Media Center on Wan Chai Road. The side entrance to our office building is on the same road as The Vine Centre and is only a 1 minute walk away. As our concierge desk is now operating from the Vine Centre lobby, all mail, phone calls, and visitors are now received there (29 Burrows Street, Wan Chai). Why has the construction work not finished yet?During our two and half years construction period, there have been various delays and problems that have caused the work to continue longer than expected. In February 2011 the church ran out of money and later the main contractor ran into financial difficulties. This made it difficult for him to maintain consistent output and supervision to complete the many small tasks and rectification works done through subcontractors. Due to the contractors limited financial capacity, the work is now being completed slowly, with some tasks finally being com-pleted over the coming months. Defects are also being rectified during the defects liability period.

Why are we not yet renting out the building for external events?Part of our vision is to make the building available for the community to use for their events, concerts and functions, and we recognize that this will also allow us to bring in some much needed income during this time. However, due to the status of the building and the ongoing work, we have not yet been able to take bookings. We have a team that is now working on the hiring guidelines and procedures and we hope to be able to start taking bookings from March 2012 onwards.

Does the ground floor lobby belong to The Vine or to Pacific Coffee? We see the lobby as a shared space between us and Pacific Coffee. Although the entire lobby space is leased to The Vine, we have invited Pacific Coffee to come and operate a coffee shop. Under the terms of the agreement, Pacific Coffee pay The Vine a management fee to cover overhead costs and donate a percentage of the turnover, assuming minimum sales targets are reached. From our perspective we see it as a valuable tool to reach out to the community and the coffee bar is used by many groups and individuals from outside the church. Our concierge desk is now operating from the lobby, and we hope to soon complete our signage and brand-ing to make the lobby even more welcoming for people visiting The Vine.

What is the repayment timeline of the loans?Congregation members have given a total of $13m in interest-free loans and a further loan

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FAQ

of $12.5m has been approved from the Bank of East Asia, backed by the personal guarantees of church members. These loans will allow the project to be completed. The bank loan is for 2 years, and monthly repayments of around $700,000 commenced in December 2011. The interest-free loans are on a variety of terms, and all loans are scheduled to be repaid by 2015.

What is the current financial situation of the Vine? Staff and ministry leaders have done a great job of controlling expenses, but we have been stretched financially. In December 2011 our monthly loan repayments commenced, which also coincided with end of our rent-free period of the Vine Centre. These two factors com-bined have meant that our monthly expenses have increased by approximately HK$1M per month. The church has responded well to our financial situation, however we will not only need to maintain fiscal diligence, but must also look to increase tithes and offerings as our capacity increases.

What plans does The Vine have to reach the Chinese-speaking neighbourhood in Wan Chai?Our strategy for this is three fold. First, for the last six months or so we have been raising up a new Chinese Speakers Ministry at the Vine who are the core of our team that will strategize, pray, and start to plan and prepare. Second, we are planning a number of specific outreach opportunities, events, and training throughout the year that will be open to everyone in the Vine to be involved in. A good example of this is our upcoming “Family Fun Day” we are plan-ning over the Easter holiday period. Third, we are planning to integrate Chinese elements into our 4pm service in 2012. While we are still discussing what this actually means for us, but we do feel God is asking us to open up this service to be more Chinese-language friendly.

www.thevine.org.hk

THE VINE

GIVING DETAILS

Imagine with us a church that cares, disciples, rebuilds, renews. This is the church that we imagine, and the church that we strive to be. Thank you for desiring to be part of this vision.

For all the donation options, please include the following details:• Name• ID Code: “VC2” (Vine Centre 2)• Mailing address (for us to mail your receipt to)

ATM & INTERNET BANKING• HSBC acc no: 083-198929-001 (current account/cheque account)• Account name: The Vine Church Limited• Reference input: “VC2”• Please email or fax us the detail to: accounts@vine.org.hk

CHEQUE PAYMENT• Made payable to: The Vine Church Limited• On the back of the cheque write: “VC2”• Send all cheques to: The Vine Church, 29 Burrows Street, Wan

Chai, Hong Kong

PAYPAL (CREDIT CARD)• Visit our website: (www.thevine.org.hk) to make your payment

online via paypal.• Please send us an email immediately after your PayPal trans-

action stating: Your Name, the ID Code “VC2”, and the amount of money transferred via PayPal, to: accounts@thevine.org.hk