Benefits of new church centre

Sir, - Your article, Demolition only option for crisis-threatened Forfar church, implies that St Margaret’s Church is in crisis.

That is misleading because we are managing our running costs more efficiently now than ever.

This means we are able to do more work in the community, helping and supporting those in need, which is a central part of our role as a church.

However, what we do not have is the estimated £500,000 which will be required just to repair the non-listed, non-accessible, cold and uncomfortable sanctuary which we only use for an hour each week.

We need to be good stewards of the money given to us and we believe carrying out very expensive remedial work to our present building is not the best way to achieve that.

Our plan is to create a new worship space within a fully accessible community centre which would cost less than the repair and upgrade of the existing sanctuary space which we estimate would cost in the region of £1.5 million.

The centre could be used seven days a week by many more people in our community than ever use our sanctuary, and would offer a real benefit to Forfar for years to come. Rev Maggie Hunt. St Margaret’s Church, Forfar.

The centre could be used seven days a week by many more people in our community than ever use our sanctuary, and would offer a real benefit to Forfar for years to come