For sale sign goes up at village Kirk
Worship at church ends after 100 years
Cowie Church has been placed on the market for offers around just £50,000.
The detached single-storey building dates back to the early 1900s and sits on the village’s Main Street.
The traditional stone building with its reception area, main church space, kitchen area and toilet is being sold by the Church of Scotland which is reserving the right to remove the pews, pulpit and ecclesiastical fixtures and fittings prior to the sale.
In addition to its current use, the church could without further planning consent be converted to a crèche, day nursery, day centre, educational establishment, museum or public library.
Offers submitted for the premises will require to be considered by one or more church committees.
The final service was held at the church on Sunday March 12 after 112 years of worship there. A Church of Scotland spokeswoman said: “Cowie Parish Church united with Plean Parish Church in 2013 and from there the congregation held discussions on which building should be retained for worship. “After much thought and prayer the united congregation chose Plean. The decision was cemented with the finding that structural problems in the building of Cowie church left it unsafe for worship. “Rev Lynne Mack, moderator of Stirling Presbytery, conducted a last service in the building attended by numerous church members from Cowie and Plean, as well Fallin and other neighbouring churches.” In a statement from the congregation, issued through the Church of Scotland, members thanked Rev Mack for leading the final service and to the visitors from neighbouring parishes and the local community, for joining the congregation.
“Everyone is welcome to join our future services which will be held in Plean Church each Sunday at 10am,” they added.
The united Cowie Plean congregation has now linked with Bannockburn Allan Church and the congregations are looking for a new minister to take them forward.
The Cowie and Plean Parish Church of Scotland Facebook page has lamented its closure placing the blame on a variety of issues. It posted: “Everyone is too busy now. Sundays are not like they used to be. People work, shops are open, people have hobbies and interests, even the TV is better now on a Sunday.
“People don’t believe any more, Science versus Faith, there are so many horrible events and people are tested daily in this world. If God exists why does he let this happen? Even people who do believe have doubts. But if we followed his instructions it would be a better place.
“There is no Boys’ or Girls’ Brigade so you don’t have to go to Sunday School so that you can play in the football team the following week.
“Marriage is optional in today’s society, children are not Christened for many reasons. The main use of our church these days is funerals. The largest turnouts at church are school services and Remembrance Sunday, who knows what will happen going forward on these special days?
“Cowie was combined with Plean, a bus was put on to shuttle people back and forth, then down sized to a mini bus, then a taxi, followed by offering people lifts. With an ageing congregation, there is no new blood coming into the church, so Plean may have a shelf life too.
“The bottom line is if we don’t use something we will lose it. So it is very sad that we will lose this service in our community. What will happen to this Cowie landmark? We face uncertain times and challenges, so we will just need to get on with it.
“Church is more than just worship, it is a chance to meet up with friends and socialise over a cuppa. Sit in peace for an hour. Get support in times of need. Practise your singing, learn good practice in how we should conduct our lives. Everyone gets something different from going to church, whether you go or not, it does not make you a good or a bad person.”