AN HISTORIC and prominent church building looks set to be sold as it has become a heavy burden to its members.
Liskeard’s Wesley Church was designed by Henry Rice and built in 1846: it replaced a chapel built just four years previously that had been destroyed by fire.
The Grade II listed building on Barn Street is impressive, spacious and ornate, but it also has a leaking roof, a big damp problem, and an internal layout that makes for difficult access.
Members of the Methodist Society in the town have spent many years grappling with the issue of how to keep it running, said superintendent minister for the Liskeard and Looe Circuit, the Revd Andy Day. Schemes discussed over several decades to make the building sustainable had not come to fruition, he said, and while up until now there had been hope that more people would come to church, and a desire to keep the building going for the town, stewards and members had now recognised that they were not going to manage to maintain it in the long term.
The regular worshipping congregation has dwindled to between 20 and 30, and members are mostly elderly.
The church has around 70 members in Liskeard, 32 of whom attended a meeting last Sunday with the aim of coming to a clear way forward on the building’s future. 30 votes were cast in favour of selling the property.
This recommendation will now go before a meeting of the local Church Council at the end of the month for a final decision, after which it will be ratified by the Circuit. Cornwall District will help Liskeard Methodists with the process, both of the sale itself, and of the transition into a completely new future, the detail of which is as yet unknown.
Revd Day said he thought that members, some of whom have been actively involved in the life of the church for 50 or 60 years, had made a very brave call.
He said that in the days since the meeting, there had been a palpable change in the atmosphere amongst them, and that there was a feeling of being lifted and of positivity about what might lie ahead.
“Increasingly, the building has become the focus of our needs, and it’s become a burden,” he said.
“I understand it’s a historic building, but in the interests of the church, and the interests of the purpose of the church, I think it’s a really positive things to do.”
The outlay for a new roof would be at least six figures, Revd Day continued, and there were other significant problems that needed addressing.
“There’s a distinction between the building and the church. While yes, we are leaving those four walls, the church itself isn’t folding, it isn’t closing, the church is simply looking for a new space to be. And that gives us whole heaps of possibilities.” Nothing was off the table in terms of future plans, said the minister: the church could build a new property, move into an existing building, or potentially work together with another organisation on a project that would provide a new base.
While the national Methodist Connexion owns the Wesley building, as it does all chapels, the Liskeard Society are trustees, and should the building be sold, funds from the sale would stay with Liskeard Methodist Church for its ongoing plans.
Methodism, said Revd Day, describes itself as a discipleship movement shaped for mission.
“When a building has served its purpose, we give thanks for it, and move on,” he said.
“I actually have high hopes. I don’t think, in the future, we’ll necessarily have a church building on every corner. Because if we are honest about it, that’s not how people are these days. We aren’t the only ones to find that people prefer to jump in and out of things, rather than having that long-standing commitment, as previous generations had.
“There’s clearly a place for gathered communities. But there’s also a place for pioneer ministers. So increasingly I think and hope what you’ll have is people who are called and led to live within a community, to be a Christian witness and build a community of Christian faith around them.”