Bourne United Reformed Church in Eastgate to close with a final service
A church dating from early Victorian times is closing due to a dwindling congregation.
Established in 1846 and once a meeting place for about 400 worshippers, the United Reformed Church in Eastgate, Bourne, now has a core of just nine people and they have decided to call it a day.
A celebration service led by the Rev Clare Davison will be held as a farewell on Saturday, March 23, at 3pm.
Lesley Patrick, who has been a part of the church community for many years, remembers when there were many more people in the congregation.
“It will be a sad day when we hold our final service,” she said.
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“The church has been a very busy place over the years and has touched the lives of so many people. It is a wonderful place.
“But unfortunately some churches are closing due to a lack of numbers.
“A small band of us have been overseeing our church and keeping it going. But we realise the time has come for us to close.”
In addition to worship, members of the United Reformed Church in Bourne held regular coffee mornings and bric-a-brac sales, and in the past there was a Sunday School for children. This had 235 children on the roll back in 1874, and 18 teachers.
The church building has also been used by other groups in the past, including Christian groups Bourne Healing Rooms, The Boys’ Brigade and The Girls’ Brigade, and by the Bourne Borderers morris dancers.
After the final United Reformed Church service on March 23, the building will continue to be used for worship by Bourne Evangelical Church, which has shared its facilities in recent years.
Those who worship with the United Reformed Church in Bourne have other “wonderful” churches they can attend in Bourne and Dyke, according to Lesley.
“Some of us have started to go to the Methodist Church - we have helped each other and supported each other’s different events,” she said.
The Rev Davison said the United Reformed Church had seen a decline in numbers of worshippers since covid, with people shielding at home and declining in health as a result.
“It is very sad,” she said. “But most of those in the congregation will join Bourne Methodist Church so they can continue to worship locally.”
The church building will be sold by the synod that owns it. There are a handful of graves on the site, which will need to be taken into consideration.
The final service of celebration on Saturday, March 23, at 3pm is open to all current, past and non-members of the congregation and will be followed by refreshments at 4pm.
The United Reformed Church in Eastgate, Bourne, has been the subject of many Mercury news reports over the years.
On Friday, August 6, 1858, the following article was published:
We speak, and probably think too much of the church as a building but the real church consists of its members, and the record of its achievements which really matter are contained in the church roll of members. We are proud that today, the number of members is the highest ever recorded since those faithful six founders banded together in 1846. Today, we have 130 names on the roll and the number of those who have been welcomed into the fellowship of this church since the first communion service on 20th October 1846 is no fewer than 491. Through varied experiences of spiritual death and prosperity, the church and Sunday School have unfailingly borne their witness for a century and the faithfulness and sacrifice of those who have gone before should encourage us to a deeper devotion with renewed hope and courage to face the tasks that still await us.
The 12th anniversary of the Independent chapel, Eastgate, was celebrated on the 1st inst. and two following days. On Sunday, three sermons were preached by the Revs BO Bendall, of Stamford, and the Rev Edward Hassan, of the New College, London. On Monday afternoon, the annual tea meeting took place in the new school-room when about 200 friends sat down to the festive board. After tea, addresses were delivered by the Rev JB Pike, the Rev D Horscraft and Mr Bishop. Amongst other things, the speakers congratulated the friends upon the fact of their having since the last anniversary produced a new school-room, adjoining the chapel, which had proved a great improvement in many respects, affording increased facilities for instructing the children of this neighbourhood. Mr Horscraft, in the course of his address, said it was a source of satisfaction, and gave great cause of thankfulness to God that they had obtained a new and commodious school-room and that by the liberality of the friends and the kind assistance of all denominations in the town it was already two-thirds paid for: the debt on the chapel being now entirely liquidated. At 7 o'clock on Monday evening a sermon was preached by the Rev JC Jones, MA, of Spalding. On the following afternoon the Sabbath school children connected with this place of worship had their tea treat in the new school-room - several friends had also a social tea in the same room, and afterwards accompanied the children to a field where they were allowed to recreate in juvenile sports the remainder of the evening. The different services and meetings were remarkably well attended and the amount of collections, &c., testified the satisfaction of those who patronised the cause.