Church Closures
Sadly, it is sometimes necessary to acknowledge that a church building is no longer viable as a place of regular worship. This may be because the congregation has dwindled to a handful of people, or because urgent structural repairs are needed for which all attempts at fundraising have failed to produce enough money.
Some buildings used for worship that are not consecrated are the responsibility of the PCC and can be closed with the Bishop’s permission and marketed. The Diocese can provide advice on how best to go about this.
Consecrated buildings (parish churches and chapels of ease), which form the vast majority of our places of worship, cannot be closed for regular public worship without a formal legal process that involves Diocesan committees and the Church Commissioners nationally, as well as public notices that can attract local objections. There are strict requirements for consultation and no guarantee that closure will be agreed just because the PCC has requested it. The separate booklet “What happens when a church building closes?” from the Church Commissioners explains the consultation process in detail.