Goodbye Stanborough Park Church – for now

The congregation at Stanborough Park Church, Garston, will be ‘camping out’ under canvas for their services for the next few months. The church, built in 1928, is being remodelled to accommodate the worship and technology needs of the 21^st century. A bold redevelopment plan to extend, alter and refurbish the church and two adjacent halls involves knocking down one entire external wall to extend the platform and create a Pastoral Centre and redesigning the balconies forcing the congregation to worship elsewhere. A new audio-visual room used to record and broadcast services will also be installed in the church tower. The ministerial team is also looking forward to having a permanent base in the new Pastoral Centre and rooms which they can use for counselling. The Music Department is currently awaiting the enlarged platform which will accommodate the expanding choir and orchestra together for the first time in the regular concerts held at the church. June Coombs, of the church, said: “For the next ten months the church family will worship in a marquee on Stanborough Park. In an attempt to recreate the atmosphere of the church building, the pews and other church furniture have been relocated to the marquee along with audio-visual equipment which will enable the church to continue to broadcast its services via the internet. Portable heaters will be used during the winter months in an attempt to keep out the cold weather outside.”