Support your church or it could be closed

Peter Holzapfel, vicar of St Mary’s in Kempsey and St Denys’ in Severn Stoke, warned villagers that the future of their churches was in their hands and uttered a stark warning: “Use them or lose them”.

The vicar also said meetings in pubs rather than churches might be the way to keep faith alive in the community.

Mr Holzapfel spoke out as he encouraged villagers to donate money to help pay for the cost of running and maintaining the churches. A gift day on Saturday at St Mary’s raised £3,894. The money is desperately needed because together, the two churches pay £60,000 to the Diocese of Worcester each year, and also have to maintain the historical buildings.

However, Mr Holzapfel said people also needed to get more involved with the church.

He believes St Denys’ might only last five more years because its congregation numbers only about a dozen people, all over 70 years old, and St Mary’s might only last another 10 to 15 years.

He said: “Severn Stoke is a small village. They’ve had the heart taken out of them. They’ve lost their school, their shops, their post offices. All that’s left is the church and one pub. But they could make a difference. If they suddenly decided they would support their local church by going along, then it would make a difference.

“Like every community in the country, the local people have to decide whether this is something they want to keep going or not. It’s a case of use it or lose it.”

He said: “It’s tempting to think that a local church like Kempsey will always be there. Will it?”

Mr Holzapfel said he believed the church had to modernise and added: “The church isn’t just what you see on a Sunday. I’d love to start a group here where we met in pubs and had a discussion about the war in Afghanistan or the drug culture or whatever.”

He added the appeal was still open and said anyone who wanted to donate should send cheques payable to St Mary’s PCC or cash to him at 3 Oakfield Drive, Kempsey.