THE Rev Neil Hepworth, new vicar of Weir Baptist Church, began his role in the village in an unusual way this weekend -- by taking his first service in a pub.

Up to 45 adults and children packed into the Weir Hotel yesterday, where they will meet until their new church is built on the site of the former Ebenezer Doal's Baptist Church, off Bacup Road.

Details of hoped-for outside financial assistance for the new building have not yet been made public and more specific plans will be submitted to Rossendale Council later in the year.

However, this weekend alone the church's building funds were boosted by more than £460.

Members of the congregation gave £360 as offering in addition to the £50 given by each of the two Roman Catholic churches, St Mary's in Bacup and St Joseph's in Stacksteads.

The landlady of the Weir Hotel also promised to donate the money from the buffet, held after the service yesterday.

The theme of the service was appropriately "What is a church?" and the youngsters who attended were given paper, building blocks and pencils to either make or draw a church.

The Rev Hepworth, delighted with the turnout to his first service, said: "We were in a good size room and the congregation was crammed in.

"I did an all-ages service, which I will do once a month. I used the question 'What is a church?' as the theme and pointed out that, in the bible, it says a church is people, not a building.

"The service was a good start and hopefully others will join us as we share our faith. The landlady of the Weir has been wonderful.

"We have a long way to go but you've got to start somewhere."

The church also held a stall at the Northern Primary School summer fair later in the afternoon.

The Rev Hepworth, ordained three weeks ago, was inducted at a service at Trinity Baptist Church on Saturday.

As part of his preparations for the service, he sent leaflets to every household in Weir, introducing himself and inviting people to the service.