THE cost of maintaining churches, and dwindling membership, has led to many closing down and the buildings put to a new purpose. Faced with this prospect, the congregation at Idle Upper Chapel decided in 2002 they had to act to maintain a presence in the area.

The smaller, mostly older congregation was conscious they didn’t need a huge building and worked together to find a solution.

The church is surrounded by 12 acres of land, which it owns. To meet costs to build a new church for a smaller congregation, yet continue to meet the needs of the local community, members reluctantly decided to sell two-and-a-half acres where the development of 26 houses is currently underway. They also decided to sell their old church, the fourth Upper Chapel, built in 1957, to enable them to build a new chapel. The church site dates back several centuries, and a 1717 date stone from the first chapel is on display in the new building.

The old Upper Chapel building is now a dance school, and the congregation rented a room there from 2013-2020 to continue Sunday services and other meetings while the building of their new church was underway. The build suffered a minor setback during the pandemic, shutting the site for five weeks. “That was a bit frustrating, but not by as much as might have been imagined,” says the Rev Annette Haigh, minister of Idle and also Bingley URC churches and Trinity Baptist and URC in Keighley.

During lockdown some members joined weekly Zoom services. Now they worship in their new building, which recently had a formal opening and dedication service attended by the Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Shabir Hussain; the Moderator of the URC Yorkshire Synod, Rev Jamie Kissack and representatives from Langtry Langton Architects and Torpoint Construction Ltd, who worked on the building. Lifelong member and church elder Pat Wilson, cut the ribbon and Rev Haigh led the service.

The new building is bright and accessible with capacity to seat around 70 people when the chapel and hall are used as one space. There is also a meeting room and office. Improved accessibility, and the welcome of the church family, is attracting new members.

A landscaped garden has flower beds, a wildflower meadow, and, flanked by a pair of memorial benches, a Prayer Tree where visitors are encouraged to hang written thoughts and prayers. “It has been very well designed and built - truly fit for purpose as a 21st century church,” says Annette.

Graham Carter, who represented church members during the project, adds: “We refer to it as a church family and we were determined to keep it going. The origins of the church go back to the mid 1600s, and the first Upper Chapel was built in 1717. There is still something special about the fellowship and its spirituality.”

Looking to the future, Graham says they want to encourage the local community to use the building. Initiatives include a ‘See & Know’ group for pre-school children; coffee mornings and ‘Happy to Talk’ sessions. “Use of the building, in addition to acts of worship, will evolve and new ideas will be tried out,” adds Graham.