ONE of Exeter's oldest parish churches is threatened with closure.
St Thomas Church in Cowick Street faces repair bills of around £3m.
Its plight has led to a major rethink of how best to look after it and its two sister churches, Emmanuel in Okehampton Road and St Andrew's in Alphington Road, which are also both in need of repair and refurbishment.
One option is to make the parish church, which is Grade I listed, safe and secure, but then to effectively mothball it as a redundant church. The St Thomas Centre in the church grounds would be retained for church and community use.
With a combined congregation of around 100, a feasibility report into the future of the churches in the benefice has found keeping all three to be "unsustainable".
The rector, Reverend Nick Edwards, said: "We recognise that people have an emotional attachment to the church which gave its name to the area.
"For this reason we are also looking at alternatives for the building, which might ensure its continued existence and use but not necessarily in our care.
"The feasibility study points out that if we were starting now we wouldn't build three churches."
"As Christians, we are called to serve our neighbours and not work only to repair buildings.
"The congregations at our churches have been very faithful, but the burdens are becoming too much to bear."
Rev Edwards said that much of the cause of the problems with the parish church was the nature of the 19th century extension, with columns built not of stone but of plaster on an iron frame.
"At this stage no decisions have been made. although all the options are being considered," he said.
"We want as many people as possible to be involved, so everyone from the community is welcome at the public meeting on May 15," he said.
The likeliest outcome for Emmanuel is that it will be sold or leased to the Riverside Church which has already expressed an interest in it. The present congregation may be able to use the church "by agreement".
With regard to St Andrew's the favoured option seems to be to undertake a refurbishment and extend the north side so it would be able to accommodate a larger regular congregation.
The final decision rests with the Parochial Church Council.
Richard Short, Exeter's assistant director for development, said: "The city council will not wish to see this landmark building become redundant and we will seek to work closely with the PCC and the Diocese to secure this building's future."
Rob Hannaford, city councillor for St Thomas and lead councillor for housing and community involvement, said: "A full public consultation with the whole West Exe area is essential. I also want the county council involved in these issues as we are still in need of a full sized local library for the area, and that also needs to taken into account when looking at things strategically."
The public meeting about the future of the three churches is to be held is on May 15 at 7.30pm in the St Thomas Centre.
