This is another post on the parish church in Aberystwyth.
Bishop Tom Burns wants to flog off the site and build a new church (probably round and concrete) out of town, just too far for elderly and infirm parishioners and anyway, shouldn't the church be at the heart of the parish?
Those who oppose claim that the old church is basically sound and certainly salvageable, but of course, it needs a bit of cash thrown at it to get it up and working again.
The Bish would say, that those in opposition have added to the cost of re-building by inflicting delays upon proceedings, and, he is probably right.
But, my friend informs me that two thirds of the parish are opposed to the move and, if Bishop Tom runs a listening church in his diocese of Menevia, he must be a little hard of hearing.
There are claims and counter claims, surveyor's reports for and against.
I don't pretend to have an intimate knowledge of all the rights and wrongs but, a commentator has left some information which I post verbatim.
Only to say, if you wish to make an official comment to the authorities, you only have until 5th June:
St Winefride's Church: Diocese of Menevia application to demolish the church. Objections to be sent by 5 June, 2013. Quote planning application number (A130337 & A130338CA): Contact Mr Owain Davies Neuadd Cyngor Ceredigion Penmorfa Aberaeron Ceredigion UK SA46 0PA Reasons for objections could be:- • Destruction of a historical church within the conservation area in Aberystwyth. • Evidence as given in SAVE report and Barratt reports show that church is structurally sound. • No one has seen the purported Insurance reports mentioned by the diocese that condemn the church. • Serious neglect of the building is the reason for recent fall of roof masonry. • That majority of parishioners want the church to remain central to Aberystwyth and not moved to the outskirts of the town. • A feasible option to develop and refurbish the church and Queen’s Rd site has not been explored fully by the diocese.
Bishop Tom Burns wants to flog off the site and build a new church (probably round and concrete) out of town, just too far for elderly and infirm parishioners and anyway, shouldn't the church be at the heart of the parish?
Those who oppose claim that the old church is basically sound and certainly salvageable, but of course, it needs a bit of cash thrown at it to get it up and working again.
The Bish would say, that those in opposition have added to the cost of re-building by inflicting delays upon proceedings, and, he is probably right.
But, my friend informs me that two thirds of the parish are opposed to the move and, if Bishop Tom runs a listening church in his diocese of Menevia, he must be a little hard of hearing.
There are claims and counter claims, surveyor's reports for and against.
I don't pretend to have an intimate knowledge of all the rights and wrongs but, a commentator has left some information which I post verbatim.
Only to say, if you wish to make an official comment to the authorities, you only have until 5th June:
St Winefride's Church: Diocese of Menevia application to demolish the church. Objections to be sent by 5 June, 2013. Quote planning application number (A130337 & A130338CA): Contact Mr Owain Davies Neuadd Cyngor Ceredigion Penmorfa Aberaeron Ceredigion UK SA46 0PA Reasons for objections could be:- • Destruction of a historical church within the conservation area in Aberystwyth. • Evidence as given in SAVE report and Barratt reports show that church is structurally sound. • No one has seen the purported Insurance reports mentioned by the diocese that condemn the church. • Serious neglect of the building is the reason for recent fall of roof masonry. • That majority of parishioners want the church to remain central to Aberystwyth and not moved to the outskirts of the town. • A feasible option to develop and refurbish the church and Queen’s Rd site has not been explored fully by the diocese.
A few years ago when Paul Priest started talking about the 'nu church paradigm' and Mass Centres I used to think he was a little over the top, but I see more and more examples of this happening.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that cities are losing their churches to the suburbs, and leaves a Spiritual gap in the inner cities. Sad~ ♥♥♥
ReplyDeleteAs a parishioner of Aberystwyth,I strongly object to this biased post. Your friend neglected to mention that this matter went as far as Rome where they supported the diocese's plans, as do a great many of us parishioners. Plans for new parish buildings have already been passed. They would be in the largest residential area of Aberystwyth, and isn't that appropriate? By all means, you are free to voice your opinions, but to present one side of this argument whilst skating over/dismissing the opposite is hardly just!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, please have the courage to comment under your name. As far as I am aware, both sides appealed to Rome. But, I believe that I am right in stating that the bulk of parishioners prefer the 'old church'.
ReplyDeleteIf you comment again, please use your name.
Richard, your friend, the source of your information, is anonymous - they may not even be a member of this parish - I'd like to remain so too.
ReplyDeleteI am just interested in putting the other side of this sorry situation, it's a view strongly held by many of us here. We cannot afford to pour more and more money into the existing parish buildings saddling generations to come with crippling debt. The sale of this site will fund new parish buildings...and no debt.
Anonymous @ 8.33pm, no, my friend is not anonymous, the commentator made his/her comment with a pseudonym.
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