Church to close doors due to cost of upkeep

Dec 29 2008 by Katie Campling, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

NEW Year will mark the end of an era for one Huddersfield church.

The Christadelphian church at Lockwood will close its doors for good after Christmas.

The small congregation of 20 is having difficulty with the upkeep of the large hall on Victoria Street at Lockwood.

From the start of 2009, they will have to meet at some of the other Christadelphian centres around Kirklees – on Morley Lane in Milnsbridge and in Cleckheaton and Heckmondwike.

The congregation marked the end of services at Victoria Street with a concert on December 15, with a performance from the North Christadelphian Choir.

Choir secretary John Mallender said: “It was the last time the church was really full. It is a very big building and the congregation has become small. The congregation are having to leave but the Christadelphians will continue to have a presence in Kirklees.”

Christadelphians have met at Victoria Street since 1940 but the movement came to Huddersfield much earlier, in 1859.

Christadelphians are a religious group who believe the bible is the true word of God and error-free. They believe that one day, Jesus will return to earth and wake his dead followers, giving immortality to those who lived by God’s rules.