Following public consultation Chilton Town Council has written on behalf of residents to formally object to the draft Pastoral Church Building Scheme proposing the closure of St Aidan’s Church, Eden Terrace, Chilton DL17 0EJ, and the subsequent termination of its plurality.
The Town Council stated “While we acknowledge the financial and organisational pressures faced by The Parochial Parish Council (PCC) we urge the Mission Pastoral Committee to reject the scheme on the basis that the closure of the church creates an unacceptable level of community loss and irreversibly damages the social and historical heritage of our town, impacting on a project to enhance community cohesion and support economic development within the town through heritage tourism. The Church has been recently listed alongside the Chilton Miners Welfare Recreation Ground Pavilion Park as one of Durham’s Non-Designated Heritage Assets (NDHA)”.
Residents raised concerns at a public meeting (held on the 18 June) relating to the commitment of the Diocese to look at alternative options to continue worship.
The Town Council made it clear that there was no personal criticism of the individual mi appointed as Change Minister, there is evidence that in other instances parishes have felt that the decision to put in place an Interim Change Minister, as opposed to permanent minister, signalled a forgone conclusion to manage decline rather than an opportunity to grow and expand the ministry. This perhaps signalling to the PCC that the Diocese already viewed the church as functionally unsustainable and the Interim Priest in Charge was brought in to help the congregation accept the closure rather than work towards finding viable solutions to support keeping the building open, identify potential partnerships and grow the congregation.
The Town Council submitted evidence on the importance to the Chilton community of retaining St Aidan’s as a centre for worship and community life and requested that they are given time to work with the Durham Diocese and the PCC to develop a long-term sustainable plan with the aim of securing the future of St Aidan’s Church as a dedicated places of worship, civic ceremonies, community events and activities – a community hub.
Full copy of the representation to the Church Commissioners can be obtained from Chilton Town Council Hutton House or downloaded from www.chiltondurham-tc.gov.uk.
Ferryhill & Chilton's local community newspaper.
