THE future of a church which has served its village for more than 100 years is hanging in the balance.

St Mary’s Church is a mission church: it was built in the early 20th century for people living in the small village of Merrymeet, giving them a place to worship that was closer than the main parish church of St Lalluwy’s in Menheniot.

As well as regular services and prayer, St Mary’s has been the venue for various clubs and meetings; it’s the only communal space for this community.

In 2019, the parish priest for Menheniot retired, and with finances strained, rather than take on a new priest, the churches became part of the St Cleer cluster. In the meantime, the Parochial Church Council (PCC) and the Diocese of Truro had already become increasingly concerned about the state of the roof. The structure is in danger of becoming unsafe, and would cost around £150,000 to repair, money which the PCC says it has no way of raising itself.

The Archdeacon of Bodmin, the Venerable Audrey Elkington, said that no final decision had yet been taken about whether to close the church.

“The PCC has known for some time that there are structural problems with St Mary’s and that it has been a financial drain,” she said.

“If  it could be shown that the church building could be appropriately repaired and become financially self-sustaining, then I feel confident that the PCC would be prepared to consider the matter again.  However, there has not been much evidence of this being a possibility to date.”

A meeting will be held once current restrictions allow, says the PCC, and this will give members of the community the chance to put forward any suggestions they might have as an alternative to closing the church, and to ask any questions they have of the PCC and the Archdeacon.

One question which remains is over whether the church building is a consecrated building or licenced for worship, as this will have a bearing on the legal route for closure, and the PCC were in the process of obtaining this documentation over the summer, said the Archdeacon.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Truro said: “No decision over closure of the church has yet been made, although the PCC has decided to investigate the process of closing the church.

“We want to put people before buildings. Whilst we recognise that the loss of a building is sad, we are still determined to care for the congregation.

“There is a moral question around even thinking about spending so much money on a building when people are facing real financial hardship in the current economic crisis.

“We have been talking about the need to repair the roof for three years, and have explored many avenues.”

A public consultation on the matter had been due to be held at St Martin’s Church in Liskeard on Monday (September 14), but this has now been postponed due to the newly imposed restrictions on gatherings.

The Diocese added: “We look forward to that meeting, and hope that it will give us all an opportunity to talk through our options and gauge public opinion and people’s appetite for involvement with the church, before any final decisions are made.”