THE COMMUNITY is invited to make comment about proposed “major changes” to a Wotton-under-Edge church to make it more suitable in the 21st Century.

St Mary’s Church council has written a statement of need and appointed an architect to make changes to the building with the aim to make the church more adaptable for the needs of today.

The council have chosen the award winning Millar+Howard Workshop of Stroud and are now seeking opinion from the public about the proposed reordering of the church.

Consultations took place for a week from Thursday, November 20 where people were invited to look at the architect's ideas and now the Anglican church wishes to get more feedback by hosting two sessions to invite a variety of opinion at a display of ideas in the New Year.

Wotton-under-Edge vicar, Revd Canon Rob Axford, said: “The church was lasted reordered over 100 years ago, so it still has a typical Victorian design which doesn’t currently have the flexibility needed for the worship we need to provide today. Lots of schools come in and the pews and layout get in the way.

“The changes would be major, it would involve taking out all of the pews and replacing them with chairs. St Mary’s is preparing for the future and we’d like your help.

“We’d like the views of the community on our initial proposals for reordering the church, to make it more usable for worship and other events, it’s really important to know what people would like.”

“We are now at the point of seeking views and comments from as wide a group of people as possible before making a decision on any one scheme.”

The appointed architects have produced a number of possible solutions to the church’s needs.

St Mary’s Church offers a wide range of worship for all ages in the town, including a selection of Sunday and weekday services and also hosts many other events, such as the “Light up a Life Service” for Cotswold Care Hospice, the Wotton Concert Series, services and productions by both Wotton-under-Edge primary schools and Katharine Lady Berkeley's School.

The church is also a venue for Wotton Arts Week Concerts and the New Year’s Eve concert.

Revd Canon Axford added: “All these activities run alongside their primary purpose of offering worship to God.

“Worship at St Mary’s includes the monthly Messy Church for young people, Remembrance Sunday in addition to regular Sunday Worship, funerals, weddings and baptisms. But, they know that they are not really equipped for the needs of 21st Century.”

“If the consultations next year get a positive reaction, and it goes ahead, we hope within a matter of months plans would go through once enough fund-raising has been done. We can’t say how much the reordering would cost as we are at very early stages at the moment and a scheme has not been put in place.

“We want to address frequently asked questions at the consultation, we are taking the whole process steadily and sensibly so we end up doing the right thing."

There is an open invitation to the church on Thursday, January 8 between 5pm and 8pm and on Saturday, January 10 between 12.30pm and 4pm for people to ask questions about the proposal and make comment.