£1million appeal for Clitheroe church (From Lancashire Telegraph)

£1million appeal for Clitheroe church

7:50pm Sunday 22nd May 2011 in News By Nazia Parveen, Reporter

CAMPAIGN Trinity Methodist Church,

A £1million fundraising campaign aimed at turning a Ribble Valley church into a ‘beacon for the area’ has been launched.

Church council leaders at Trinity Methodist Church, Clitheroe, are planning a complete revamp of the Wesleyan church building in Parson Lane.

The roof of the church will be replaced alongside a new heating system and extensive building work in the church hall and meeting rooms.

Church minister Tim Thorpe, said: "It's no use beating about the bush: we need to understand the size of the task in hand.

“If this vision is to become a reality we are going to have to work tirelessly over the next few years."

The cost of the project has been estimated in the region of £1million and fundraising plans include a ‘coffee stop’ on the last Saturday of every month, a family Ceilidh and Rock night, as well as theatre productions and an art exhibition.

Mr Thorpe added: “All of us at Trinity enjoy worshipping in a building that was built by everyday folk like us who gave sacrificially in order to have a place in which to worship and to serve the community. It is time to carry on the legacy.

"Great things are achieved by great and generous people who believe in a great and generous God.

“Let us grasp this opportunity so that there will be a worshipping presence at Trinity for decades to come and that those who follow will remember us as generous people who had a vision for the future."

Plans for the building are currently being looked at by members of a development committee which is made up of church representatives and IWA Architects.

Members of the committee are keen to receive feedback on plans and ideas on how they can be improved.

There will be a suggestions box in the church, with the plans on display, whenever the building is open.