EDMOND—The Philadelphia Church of God officially purchased a new campus
in England on November 12. United Kingdom/Europe Regional Director Brad
Macdonald received the keys today from a Sotheby’s real estate agent, marking
the official closing of the deal and opening of a new chapter for the Church’s
work in Britain and Europe.
The estate will serve as a new location for the Church’s regional
office in England. A handful of students from Herbert W. Armstrong College will
also travel to England to support the Church’s work in the region.
Edstone Hall, a 24,000-square-foot mansion in the Warwickshire
countryside, contains more than 30 rooms. Built in 1939 in the art deco style,
the building has an oak double-door entrance into a stained glass vestibule,
stone mullion windows, stone fireplaces, balconies, a 5,500-square-foot Georgian
cellar, a Cotswold stone roof and a detached garage. The 22-acre campus sits among
the meadows about 4 miles north of Stratford-upon-Avon.
The parkland surrounding the hall includes meadows, pastures and woodland
including mature oak and beech trees, as well as walking paths, gardens and a
cedar of Lebanon; it also overlooks a large pond. The property also includes planning
permissions for a 10,000-square-foot additional building, and an indoor
swimming pool and a leisure complex.
“I believe God has long been preparing Edstone for His Church,” Mr.
Macdonald said. “Edstone is ideal for the
pcg—a
perfect combination of majesty and functionality. It’s dignified and
impressive, yet practical and sensible.”
Receiving the key to Edstone Hall capped off a two-year quest for a new
campus in England. In December 2012,
pcg Pastor
General Gerald Flurry asked Mr. Macdonald to search the London area for estates
that could fulfill the needs of an expanded work in Britain and Europe. Mr.
Macdonald soon discovered that the former Ambassador College campus in Bricket
Wood was for sale. The college there closed 40 years ago, in 1974.
In March 2013, the Church placed an offer on a portion of the Bricket
Wood estate, including its mansion, Hanstead House, and a cottage where Ambassador
College founder Herbert W. Armstrong stayed during his visits to the campus.
Mr. Flurry announced the offer in July during a sermon at Philadelphia Youth
Camp in Edmond. But over the next nine months, the sale decelerated. The owner
of the Bricket Wood estate, a London real estate development company, was
denied planning permission for its residential neighborhood by the St. Albans
Council. This prevented an expedient sale to the
pcg.
This April, Evangelist Stephen Flurry and his family flew to Britain,
and he and Mr. Macdonald spent several days attempting to reconcile with the
developer and the town council. On the final evening of their time together in
Britain, the Flurry and Macdonald families gathered to discuss the happenings
of the trip. During the course of the evening, Mr. Macdonald searched online to
see what the £4.5 million the
Church had offered could buy elsewhere, and found several estates of similar
grandeur and a lower asking price.
“There was a kind of epiphany,” Mr. Macdonald said. “
Why not look elsewhere? we thought. We
did a quick Internet search, and within minutes we were oohing and aaahing over
at least a dozen other magnificent homes, all of which were less expensive and
came with greater acreage and more features.”
Later that week, Mr. Gerald Flurry determined that the door to Bricket
Wood was closed and directed Mr. Macdonald to search for other estates. Along
with regional office manager David Howard and editorial department writer
Richard Palmer, Mr. Macdonald spent two weeks parsing dozens of possibilities
and visiting more than 20, the last of which was Edstone on May 5. On May 8, Mr.
Flurry and his son flew to England and viewed six estates over the next two
days. On May 14, the
pcg submitted
an offer on the estate in Warwickshire, which was quickly accepted and became
official in early June.
Mr. Gerald Flurry announced the offer during a Bible study in Edmond on
May 16 at the beginning of the AC graduation
weekend. After nearly five months of routine inspections, legal paperwork and negotiations,
contracts were exchanged and the sale was formalized on September 24. At the
Feast of Tabernacles on October 8,
pcg members
at 16 sites around the globe learned the location, name and details of the
estate in a taped opening night presentation by Mr. Stephen Flurry.
Assistant dean of students Eric Burns announced on October 29 that 11 Herbert
W. Armstrong College students and graduates from Edmond—Christopher Eames, Jessie Hester,
Samuel Livingston, Kiall Lorenz, Brooke Davis, Victoria Lancaster, Nick Irwin,
Emmanuel Michels, Kaitlin Eames, Anya Trietsch, Paris Turgeon—will transfer to
Edstone to serve in the
pcg office
for the spring semester.
UK office staff and contractors are currently renovating Edstone Hall,
updating fixtures and appliances, and installing new flooring, partition walls,
paint and a computer network.
pcg
chief operations officer Andrew Locher said the technology should increase
website performance, create a secure connection to the Church’s headquarters
campus, and facilitate broadcast production.
Meanwhile, the Church’s regional office operations will move from a
900-square-foot facility in the Northampton town center to approximately 5,000
square feet in Edstone Hall devoted to office space.
“With the greatly
expanded office space now available to us, we anticipate expanded regional
operations to immediately get underway from Edstone,” Mr. Locher said. “I
was excited to see the fine quality of construction that is move-in ready. Of
course we will add our personal touch to the property, but for the most part,
we can move in and expand our operations from day one. There is much work to do
with the details, but with our experienced staff having already developed a
campus, we are ready for the challenges and hope previous experience will move
the process along rapidly.”
“There is much work to be done between now
and mid-January, when 15 students and HQ employees will be moving to Edstone,”
Mr. Stephen Flurry said. “With Mr. Macdonald and his family now living at
Edstone, renovations can begin right away.”
The renovations and additional room will allow the office to expand its
operations, which currently include literature request fulfillment, business,
member services and convention planning. Mr. Macdonald says he hopes to move
the office into Edstone the last week of December. The first semester of
Herbert W. Armstrong College–England commences January 12.
Watch Stephen Flurry’s new Trumpet Daily program, taped on site at Edstone.
Our recently deceased dog Petra was a Shiba Inu which is a Japanese breed known to be reserved and independent. He would come into our room at night and sometimes, I would wake up. One night while I was getting back to sleep I began to think about dogs and how they are a unique animal that seems to be have been created to be "man's best friend". I wondered about the characteristics of dogs and what they could teach us maybe about our relationship to God. Here are a few of my thoughts. Bear in mind that our dog is an inside pet and I'm not a dog expert by any means and this is the first dog that I have ever had so these were just my thoughts and observations. 
They can be stubborn - As I mentioned, Shiba Inu's are by nature independent. Sometimes he will be lying down and I will call him and he'll just ignore me. I might have to call him three times and make my voice sharp for him to even look up! We need to not have this characteristic and be receptive and quick to respond to God's direction.
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