News Conversion plans for local church
Goole town councillors say they will not object to the closure of one of the area's best-loved churches.
St Mary's Church in Old Goole has been earmarked for closure because of a lack of ministers, finances and a dwindling congregation. The Goole Parochial Church Council (PCC) wants to convert the 70-year-old building on Swinefleet Road into five apartments. It is also seeking planning permission to demolish the church hall and build two new houses on the site.
At a meeting of Goole Town Council's Planning Committee on Monday, councillors voted to make no official comment about the plans.
The meeting was told by Cllr Beryl Beck-Taylor, a church warden for the parish, that there was no choice but to close the church because there was a lack of ministers to cover services and not enough people attending services. She said this had led to a financial drain on church funds.
The Lib Dem councillor said that if St Mary's did not close, even the future of the parish church, St John's, would be in doubt.
"Should we not do this with St Mary's (then) in about five years' time there will be no churches in Goole," added Cllr Beck-Taylor. "St John's will be closed because it will not be financially viable.
"People are not attending church; I think this (closing St Mary's Church) is the best way forward."
Cllr Beck-Taylor said other churches that had been converted into apartments looked "absolutely fantastic".
She added: "I'm very sorry it (St Mary's) has to close, but that is how life is today. Because most people don't attend church there's only a few of us who do attend."
Cllr Beck-Taylor said arrangements had been made for people who attend St Mary's to go to St John's when the former closes.
"Adequate arrangements have been arranged for anyone who wants to go to St John's who can't go there on their own," she added.
Cllr Beck-Taylor said that, when the PCC first announced it was going to close St Mary's in May, the then bishop of the Sheffield Diocese - which covers Goole - agreed it had to close, despite a letter of objection sent to him by Goole Town Council.
"There are just not the people coming forward to be priests," said Cllr Beck-Taylor. "We don't have enough ministers to actually keep the churches open."
There are currently just six full-time ministers to cover the whole deanery and St Mary's has a congregation of only 20 people.
"We are all very sorry it will be closed but I'm afraid that's the way it's got to be," said Cllr Beck-Taylor. She said it had become impossible to finances both St Mary's and St John's, but stressed there were no plans to close the main parish church.
Cllr Beck-Taylor added that there would be a special service on November 28 to mark St Mary's 70th anniversary.
There would be one service a month until Christmas but then the church will close in the new year.
Cllr Jane Marsden said the closure of St Mary's would help the Church as a whole.
She added: "I think it's sad, but things move on. I do think the building could be of some good use; if a developer could be interested in this it would probably bring a breath of fresh air to the site."
Committee chairman Cllr Malcolm Boatman said: "I think we need to retain the history of the town; if that means finding alternative uses (for St Mary's) then so be it. I'd rather see it converted than demolished."
The Rev Tony Sophianou, Goole's vicar, said a developer had already expressed an interest in building two two-storey houses on the site.
Cllr Pat O'Neil said she was worried the church could become derelict in the time it took to find a developer to take on the conversion project.
When St Mary's closes it will be just the latest in a long line of Goole churches to fall by the wayside.
Mr Sophianou said: "It's a very sad state of affairs that - not just here in Goole but in the country generally - people no longer go to church, and the church has got to find different ways of reaching out to the community. I'm afraid having lots of (church) buildings is an encumbrance."
He added that there were just five or six full-time clergy to cover 21 churches in the deanery.
Mr Sophianou - who is currently covering several areas including Thorne, which has no full-time ministers whatsoever - added: "There is a crisis in general in the church."
Published on 21st August 2008 in News.
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