church and approx £200,000 for essential repairs to the roof, walls and spire. We felt that we might be able to get a grant for this work but it would not cover the whole cost and that if we did succeed in raising the necessary money we would still have to increase our weekly income in order to meet our running costs.
Many people said that they would like the people of St John's to stay together to come to terms with what had happened and to discuss the possibilities. Prior to this the congregation had been split between St. Augustine’s and St. Paul’s and other neighbouring churches.
We were kindly offered the use of St. Christopher’s chapel, and after discussion at the PCC the churchwardens went to visit the chapel at St Christopher’s School. The decision was then made with the approval of the PCC and the Bishop, for us to hold our services there for an initial period of three months.
The first service at St Christopher’s was arranged for Sunday 8 July at 9.30am. and we have held our services there ever since that date apart from our joint benefice services at St. Augustine’s and St. Paul’s.
May we take this opportunity to thank everybody from St Paul's, St Augustine's and elsewhere who made us feel so welcome during those first couple of months.
We are very grateful for their support and prayers.
May we also take this opportunity to thank Mr. Coates, the head teacher of St. Christopher’s for allowing us to use the school chapel.
A further meeting in August chaired by the Bishop of Burnley and attended by the Area Dean clarified the following points:
That St John's Church is not permanently closed. The decision taken by the PCC in June was the first step in a long process to be undertaken when a church is to be closed. This process does not necessarily lead to closure, as permission has to be obtained from many bodies including the diocese, town council and heritage and conservation groups.
Further reports have been commissioned to ensure that the PCC and the diocese make informed decisions about St John's future. A second electrical report has been received and has suggested that work totalling approximately £3,000 would be sufficient to enable the church to reopen safely, with the agreement of the insurers. Other work would be needed to the electrical system but this is not as urgent.
A report has been commissioned from a local architect, which will examine the state of the church building and the cost of repairing it. The report will also consider the feasibility of altering the interior of the building to reduce costs and increase usage and flexibility. Many ideas have been put forward and they will be thoroughly evaluated.
It was agreed that should St John's stay open, much work would be needed to fund any repairs and alterations for which grants and donations will be sought. |
My family and I have been associated with St. John’s church, Accrington for some thirty years. The church has served my family well over this period and in return for many of the thirty years we have been active participants in the church life.
The church is now 143 years old, built in the Victorian era. The church was built to hold in excess of 500 people, over the years this has been advantageous for staging many major civil events for the town of Accrington.
In common with many churches nationally the numbers attending our church have fallen significantly, particularly over the last 10-15 years, however on the positive side we continue to achieve 60 people worshipping regularly every week, with a further 20-30 young people attending our Junior Church on a weekly basis.
There is a church Primary School adjacent to the church and there are other groups, Mothers Union, Men’s Fellowship, Brownies and Guides who continue to achieve stability of membership.
The church building, over the last thirty years has undergone major repair and refurbishment, chiefly to the massive roof and associated lead gutters, in general the work was carried out to a very high standard, and as such has stood the test of time.
Unfortunately the building is presenting signs of tiredness in several other areas, not least of which are the existing electrical circuits and some of the external stone walls, which over the years have become increasingly porous, this is now resulting in the failure of many areas of plaster to the inner walls.
In June 2007 the electrical circuits failed tests, consequently the church was temporarily closed. During this period of closure the congregation have been forced to contemplate the future, possibly without their beloved church building!!
Whilst it is fair to say that all of us would want to continue to worship within the building, we all accept that the building requires significant funds to enable this to happen, is this the correct action to prepare for the next generation, or do we need to radically re-think our strategy for the future sustainability of the church at St. John’s?
Rather than struggling to rebuild the existing building, we may wish to re-configure the internal layout, subject to the restrictions of being a listed building to create a wider range of use for the community, and importantly to reduce the running costs for the church and to create sustainability for the church community for the future, to this end the church community has recently embarked upon an exciting programme of review and refurbishment, this to incorporate a comprehensive review of the requirements of the wider community into the twenty-first century, to consider the provision of meeting rooms, kitchen, toilet facilities, including accessible toilet facilities, possibly to accommodate social housing within part of the church building, subject to finance, listed building consent and the agreement of the Diocese.
Presently a Heritage grant has been submitted, we await the outcome, scheduled for January/February 2008.
Meanwhile there are tremendous efforts being made within the Parish and the wider community to raise an initial fighting fund of £50,000.00 presently we have raised £11,000.00 in the first six weeks of the campaign.
One of the prime considerations of the parish and particularly the wider community is the safeguarding of the “Pals Chapel” this chapel is housed within the church and commemorates the Accrington men and boys who lost there lives in the First World War fighting for there country. The chapel is a very atmospheric place of worship and has attracted much international recognition over the years, the saving of the chapel continues to be a very real incentive for the community to raise money for what is seen to be a very worthy cause.
The future for St. John’s church continues to be in some doubt, however once the reviews have been finalised and the outcome of the grant application known, only then will we be able assess our true position. Supported by the Diocese and the wider community, we will then be able to plan the way forward, the objective being to provide an option which is capable of being sustained by the next generation, a building which reflects the need of the church, the wider community.
All of those associated with St. John’s hope and pray that with the help of those who care within the community, but most importantly with the help of God, the plans and the aspirations of us all will be achieved, and that St. John’s church will continue to serve the community of Accrington for many years to come.
The progress of our campaign will be reported in the local paper, on our web site and within news letters circulated throughout the community on a regular basis. |
