Stanley church building has served Stanley as a place of worship since 1828. Faith has been publicly expressed and shared in Stanley church building. It has been the place of baptisms, of marriages, of funerals, of the weekly pattern of worship and the regular sharing of Communion. Liturgy and life have met and merged in worship, word and sacrament, hymn and prayer. For some this is the church embodied in Stanley Church building.
Following our two public meetings on 19th January and 17th February 2016 many of you will know well the sad and difficult news about the current problems with Stanley Church Building. After the damaged inflicted by Storm Frank, a full building report exposed the extent of the recent deterioration in the very stones the building is constructed with. While the underlying issues are not new this latest building report makes shocking reading as it forces us to face up to the reality of how bad the structure of the stonework of the building has become. When read in conjunction with previous reports it also highlights the increasing speed of deterioration of some areas of the stonework, particularly around the clock faces in the tower.
As a result of this recent report the Church Building has been fenced off to prevent Public Access. The last thing we would want is someone getting hurt.
Redgorton and Stanley Kirk Session met with representatives from Perth Presbytery on Tuesday 23rd February to discuss the way forward. We were advised that the initial £0.5 million estimate of repair costs would be just the beginning and actual project costs could eventually be over £1.5 million or more, and even after spending that amount of money there would still be a fear that within 20 or 30 years there could be further significant repair costs required.
Therefore after a great deal of careful consideration and much heart ache it was decided by a large majority to recommend to Presbytery that Stanley Church Building is beyond reasonable economic repair. This was then discussed at the Presbytery meeting of the 12th March 2016, Presbytery strongly supported the decision made by the Kirk Session and referred the matter on to the General Trustees of the Church of Scotland who ultimately own Stanley Church Building and grounds. As we get further news or developments we will endeavour to keep you informed.
The Kirk Session and Presbytery want to reassure everybody that Worship will continue in Stanley village, following our current established pattern, with Sunday worship continuing to take place, in the meantime, in Stanley village Hall.
Bankfoot Church Centre 