News / A new church for Lerwick
CONSTRUCTION work on a new church for the Lerwick Baptist congregation is to commence today (Monday). The 100 strong congregation is taking “a step of faith’ and invest £1.5 million in what will be the first new church built in the isles for many decades. Local construction firm D.I.T.T. has won the 10 month contract to build the church at Quoys, in the heart of a new housing estate, at the outskirts of Lerwick. Last week the congregation and representatives from the contractor came together at Quoys for a site dedication. Pastor Iain Morrison said the congregation had had the option either to refurbish the existing 100 year’s old kirk at Clairmont Place, or to build a brand new centre of faith. The congregation has raised half a million themselves during the last six years with the rest coming through loans from the Baptist Union of Great Britain as well as contributions from churches and charities, including the churches trust fund. “Rather than spending a lot of money doing up an old building, we decided that it was time for something new. The vision is to have a church that not only serves our congregation but also the community at Quoys. “We hope not to have just a Sunday church but an everyday church, and there are plans to have a small coffee shop for the community since there is nothing else out here. “Investing this amount of money is a big commitment. We have raised around £500,000 over recent years, there are some grants and other Baptist churches across Scotland are contributing, but on the whole we are doing it ourselves, which is quite staggering,” Mr Morrison said. He added that the Lerwick Baptist congregation had made a similar commitment 100 years ago when they built the present church. “We have worked out that what they did 100 years ago was equivalent to raising £1.5 million in today’s money, so we are repeating what they did to last another 100 years, hopefully,” he said. The old Baptist Church will be converted into six flats by the Hjaltland Housing Association (HHA) later this year. The housing association is currently building the new housing estate at Quoys, and has given the Baptist Church a prime site in exchange for the old kirk.
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