Worship will end at both Blewbury and Upton Methodist Churches (both Centres of the Spring Line Church) at Easter 2013. It may seem very early to make this decision public, but closure of a church takes a long time. This decision was taken by the Spring Line members at their February Church Council Meeting, and was approved by the Methodist Circuit (South Oxfordshire group of Methodist churches) meeting in mid-March, so it is now official.
As you can imagine this has not been an easy decision and there are many heavy hearts. We are very clear, however, that sometimes being faithful means moving on and what has served well in the past is not necessarily right in the present. There are two reasons for making the decision to close both churches: the number of regular worshipers at our Upton Centre is low, and in spite of support from the Community the Spring Line Church is not financially viable. We would be in the position of having to ask for financial support from the Methodist Church if we carry on beyond spring 2013, and this did not seem right, so we have decided to move on and to support other churches. The next 12 months will enable us to make all the preparations we need for the change: practically, emotionally and spiritually.
We would like to thank the Community for responding to our plea for more Community Use over the last 12 months, and hope you will continue to use our buildings until the closure date. The actual process of closing the church and decisions about the future of the two buildings is undertaken by the Wantage and Abingdon Circuit, not by Spring Line Church members.
Jo Lakeland