LETTER: Churches past sell-by date

Following the recent heavy rain, buckets were the order of the day at the Central Methodist Church in Pevensey Road in order to try to catch the water coming in through the roof on Sunday. The Sunday services had to be held in the drier church hall. The Worldwide Church of God also had to use the hall as it would have been too dangerous to use their electrical equipment in the church. The basement area was underwater, making it impassable. At Upperton United Reformed Church the congregation had to sit away from the side walls due to rain penetration. Without a small fortune being spent on our old churches, surely it must make sense to demolish old leaking buildings which are past their sell-by date and replace them with a more modern building suitable for 21st century needs. It is not inconceivable that within the next three years the church in Upperton Road will have to be demolished as church members will not have the financial resources to continue with patching repairs to the old building.