A £1.75 million repair bill has forced the congregation of St John’s Church to put their Granville Terrace building up for sale and search for a new place to worship.
The congregation voted to leave their listed building at a special meeting last week and are now looking for a temporary venue while it is sold and a permanent new home is found.
The church had been fundraising for years to raise £750,000 to repair its community building, a fundraising effort that was suspended recently because of the scale of the problems with the church itself, meaning the total amount needed to stay at the building is £1.75 million.
Here’s a statement in full from St John’s minister Rev Neil Adams that was issued this morning…
“On Sunday 20th May the congregation of St John’s Church voted to leave its current building on Granville Terrace, Stone, and put it up for sale. We have asked the West Midlands Synod of the United Reformed Church to sell the property for us – and are now looking for an alternative temporary venue to worship in while we wait to see where our permanent home will be.
“The decision to sell the building has the total support of both of the church’s parent denominations: the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church. It was not an easy decision to make but we feel it was the right one.
“For many years the congregation at St John’s has struggled to maintain the premises adequately – and it has estimated that the cost of renovation would exceed the value of the property. We would need to spend almost a million pounds on essential repairs, and much more than this to modernise the building fully. Like almost everyone else, our overheads are stretching us to breaking point – and we simply cannot afford to keep the building on.
“We believe that the people are the Church not the buildings – and the great news is St John’s is growing and thriving and is looking forward to living out its calling as the faithful people of God in its community.”
Rev Adams said tonight that the problems with the church are “numerous and historic”. He added: “There are serious problems from the very top to the very bottom of the building.”
“It is very sad that St John’s in that building can no longer continue. There are so many collective memories of very happy times and very sad times. We’ll be in a new building but the future is great for St John’s. The state of the building has been a constant worry for a very long time. I’m not sure God has called us to care for a building. The building is the shell. The real church is the people.”
It is not known at this stage what will happen to the building and the site once it is taken on by new owners.
8 comments
pina_inglesa
From the outside, the building may be aesthetically pleasing and a landmark to the town, but it is a decaying structure that is hideously expensive to heat and completely unfit for purpose in a 21st century context. I for one am only too happy that the decision to leave has been taken as the Church is a thriving worshipping community whose mission to show God’s love is being hampered by this millstone that is so tightly bound up in listed building red tape.
Stonephil
Well put, Stonebloke. I presume you’ve got a few million – why not save the church yourself?
Howard
I was married here but worship elsewhere as I don’t live in Stone. I assume all the people bemoaning the situation have done THEIR bit to help over the years..
Rachel 85
I go to this church and will b sad to see it go my son was christened here, but as Neil said the church is in the people not the building.
Will b a shame to see it knocked down wish it could b converted but the outer beauty remain
Jamie Summerfield
Thanks for the comment Rachel – it could be the start of an exciting new chapter in the history of St John’s
Jon Cook
Maybe they can knock it down and create an exclusive development of charity shops and estate agents. Such a shame that this historic building will be lost but I guess this is what happens if you don’t maintain a property periodically :o(
Stonebloke
It will no doubt be demolished to make way for housing or a supermarket, after all who wants an historic and aesthetically pleasing building to remain.
Jamie Summerfield
Got my fingers firmly crossed for something better. There are examples of sensitive conversions of unused churches (maybe I’ve been watching too much Grand Designs) so I really hope that someone takes it on who can preserve its history. Restaurant perhaps? Small hotel??? But the figures quoted for repairs are astronomical and I share your fear. I just pray this doesn’t happen