MORE than 500 people helped to usher in a new chapter in the life of a Burnley church after the opening of its multi-million pound building.

After a 10-year battle to raise funds, Life Church cut the ribbon outside the new building in Sycamore Avenue yesterday morning.

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The ceremony, which was followed by a service, comes after building started in 2008 but was hit by delays when to developers for the scheme went bankrupt.

The new venture is just yards away from the church’s former base at the 114-year-old Gannow Baths, which closed in 2004.

The ground floor, which houses a 500-seat auditorium, cafe and meeting rooms, is now open to the public with work expected to begin in the New Year on transforming the first floor into offices to rent to local businesses.

Funding for the project has been provided by the congregation over the last decade through a mixture of special events and collections during services.

Among the inaugural congregation was Burnley MP Gordon Birtwistle.

Associate minister Matthew Brunton said: “We are thrilled to welcome the community for what will be a real party atmosphere this weekend.

“Excellence inspires people and we hope that this facility will do just that for Burnley and beyond.

“We are thrilled with the new building and the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.

“The old building was always a temporary home while we got this one built but obviously the project was delayed because of the recession. It’s great that we are now in and we can set about serving the community and also getting the first floor ready. So far just over £2.5m has been spent and I would say that the final total will be around £3m which is amazing considering that it has all been raised by church members.”

The church was involved in setting up Burnley High School and provided meeting spaces for the community.

Headteacher Dawn Forshaw, said: “This new building is fantastic and it’s such an achievement for the church to have got to this point.”

“It should be a great asset to the community, and that’s what church should be about.

“I’m here to show my support for the church because it gave the community a lot of help in setting up the free school.”

The church was formed in Burnley by a group of pentecostal believers in 1911 and was formerly recognised as The Pentecostal Church in 1921.

Life Church is a member of the Evangelical Alliance, the largest body serving evangelical Christians in the UK.

Evangelical Christians believe who holds to the inspiration, inerrancy, and authority of Scripture, the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and salvation by grace through faith alone.