Bourne Evangelical Church needs to raise £220,000 to buy the United Reformed Church building in Eastgate
A community faces a race against time to raise £220,000 to safeguard the future of a historic building.
Members of Bourne Evangelical Church have been sharing the United Reformed Church building in Eastgate for three years, having previously met at Wake House.
Earlier this year, the URC congregation closed and the building will now be sold.
The evangelical church is in talks with the owner but needs to raise £220,000 to complete the purchase.
If successful, church leaders hope to breathe new life into the venue and use its meeting rooms and main hall for the benefit of the wider community while maintaining the church area for worship.
Pastor David Tattersall said: “There is so much potential for this building to support the community and I think it’s something that is needed in this day and age. It could be a real hub for this part of Bourne.”
The evangelical church members have organised coffee mornings and secondhand sales in the past but owning their own building would open up more opportunities. They would like to use it as a warm space and community cafe, open a charity shop, extend their existing bookshop and host other community workshops.
Church elder and trustee Jason Wright said: “We’re limited on what we can do because we don’t have our own building. We hope people in Bourne would prefer to see this historic building saved and used for the community rather than sold for development.
“We’ve found that people still don’t know we exist as a church community because we don’t have our own building, but I think growth will come if we can acquire this.”
The church has 18 regular members and continues to host a Sunday service each week at 10.30am.
An online fundraising page has been created at www.justgiving.com/campaign/bec-save-eastgate-chapel with more than £4,700 donated so far.
Anyone who would like to support the fundraising in other ways can email becpastor7@protonmail.com or call David Tatersall on 07432 478048.
The building will be sold by the United Reformed Church’s East Midlands Synod.
Its moderator, The Rev Geoffrey Clarke, said: “Bourne Evangelical Church has always been open with the URC East Midlands Synod about its desire to purchase the building should it become available for sale.
“As the building of the former Eastgate URC Bourne closed for worship in September, the building is available for sale.
“The East Midlands Synod is engaged in open discussions, with but not limited to the Bourne Evangelical Church, about the sale of the building, which, in accordance with charity law, the East Midlands Synods Trust must sell at the amount of a professional valuation.”
