Church could be closed due to small attendances and big maintenance bill
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AN historic church in Nettlebed could be forced to close.
St Bartholomew’s has a tiny congregation and no governance and the building needs a huge amount of repairs.
The problems were laid bare at a meeting of Nettlebed Parish Council attended by priest-in-charge, Rev Mark Ainsworth, who has been in the job for 18 months.
The meeting heard that the St Bartholomew’s congregation averaged just 12 people and that substantial work was needed to the roof and tower of the church within the next two years.
The church also did not pay the “parish share” for the five years before 2020. This is the money that each parish is asked to contribute to support the mission and ministry of the church in the Diocese of Oxford.