Churches meet to plan merger (From Barry And District News)

Churches meet to plan merger

TWO Barry Church congregations met this week to discuss a possible merger at a new Waterfront church.

Members of Windsor Road United Reformed Church and Porthkerry Road Methodist Church met on Monday night to look at their future plans.

Reverend Irfon James, of Windsor Road United Reformed Church, led the meeting at the school rooms.

He said: "The meeting went very well. It was a meeting of church members to discuss the possibility of vacating our premises and going into a new church."

Rev James stressed that no decision had been made and the meeting was simply to give church members the opportunity to put their views forward. As yet, no time scale has been put on the proposals.

If the plans do go ahead, the congreg-ations could move to a new church on land designated 'N2' at Barry Waterfront, a residential plot next to Morrisons.

Rev James said: "We would hope we could use our church in the future to continue care for our older members. The way our church is set up means that only our members can make the decision, and not me or my elders."

Windsor Road churchgoer Deryn Grigg said: "I understand that Windsor Road church may have subsidence which would take a considerable amount of money to repair.

Knowing the cost of new buildings, surely the renovation of Windsor Road would be a fraction of the cost of a new building."

She added: "Please remember the beautiful pillars, the awe-inspiring stained glass windows, the wonderful wood features, to say nothing of the superb building. How can we citizens of this town allow such a beautiful building to be destroyed in favour of a modern erection on the Waterfront?"

n What do you think? Contact Jessica at the News at 156 Holton Road, Barry, CF63 4TY.