Arrochar Parish Church The Story So Far
		From the Helensburgh Advertiser of 30th. September, 1999: Historic building faced demolition until community raised £20,000 Village rallied round to save its Church 'It is an example to people in other parts of the country of what can be achieved' by CHRISTINA CRAN A village church opened its doors for the first time in almost three years last Sunday to hold a special welcoming service. Arrochar Parish Church was threatened with demolition in May last year after the Presbytery of Dumbarton deemed the building 'beyond economic repair.' But a restoration committee along with kind-hearted local businessmen have saved the 150 year-old place of worship. And members of the Arrochar Parish Church Community Trust have signed a renewable lease agreement which will see the building in their hands for the next 19 years. The final total raised to transform the building was £20,000 and financial support for further renovations has also been pledged. Minister for Arrochar and Luss, Rev. Dane Sherrard, said the attendance to the service on Sunday had taken his breath away. "We have new seating for about 150 people and had prepared the order of service for about 250, just in case, but we ended up with about 300 people." "It was bedlam but it was absolutely wonderful," he said. "People who had helped with the restoration contributed to the service, so there ended up being about 35 people leading the service." "To have so many people there was most encouraging, especially when last year there were only handfuls." As well as the plans for the second phase of refurbishment, Rev. Sherrard has ideas for the future uses of the building. "We are hoping to have activities for the young people and also to start the Sunday School up again," he said. "Also, a lot of the community groups in the village have nowhere to go and we'd like to think they could use the building." Attending Sunday's service was Presbytery of Dumbarton Clerk, Rev. David Munro, who said the church had been in a 'perilous situation' when the decision had been taken to demolish it but that the restoration had 'resurrected and remodelled it.' "We are absolutely delighted that the church has re-opened," he said. "It is an example to communities and congregations in other parts of the country of what can be achieved." Session Clerk and Chairman of the Arrochar and Tarbet Community Council, Eric Davidson, outlined the work which was still to be done. "It is not completely finished but it has got to the point where we can use it. Most of the internal work is done except some small jobs like finishing the woodwork and replacing the temporary lights," he said. "There is also some work to be done on the outside of the building, like new doors to go on, which have been donated and the old vestry and cloakroom still needs to be done up. "Work also needs to be done to the roof and we've had a kind donation of £6,000 to carry that out. "But it's looking very nice and we've been given the presbytery's approval - they've lifted the ban on the church."