A CHURCH will open its doors one more time for worshippers as it prepares to close after more than two centuries.

Bondgate Methodist Church, in Darlington, will not be opening again for regular services after the lockdown.

The decision to close the church, which is a grade II listed building, was made last year.

During the lockdown, members decided the time had come to close for good.

It means the church, which was built in 1812, will hold one final service of thanksgiving, which it is hoped will take place in August.

Reverend John Howard, acting superintendant, said: "The decision was taken some months ago by the congregation that the time had come that it was no longer viable to stay open.

"It's a listed building and it's a large building and it needs a huge amount of work on the roof. Some of the property is quite run down and the estimated cost of bringing it back to a reasonable condition was way beyond what the congregation could manage.

"When the lockdown started we were still holding services but we have decided we will now have a thanksgiving service to mark the closure."

He added: "We are very sad about it. It's not the kind of thing we relish but we are in the position where we have a grade II listed building that is beyond us to maintain."

The church has about about 30 members, with a regular congregation of about 20 to 25, though the building is large enough to host up to about 700 people.

The church is taking advice on how to safely hold the service of thanksgiving with social distancing in place, in case larger numbers of people attend.

Rev Howard said: "This is a building with a wonderful history – 200 years of it. It was a major building in Darlington, it had all sorts of different things in it.

"There was a big youth organisation for a lot of years and if you talk to lots of people in the town many of them will remember going to the youth club there.

"It may be that many people want to come to the thanksgiving service so we are taking advice on when we can hold that."

Methodism was first recorded in Darlington in 1744 and according to the Historic England listing, the Bondgate church was built in 1812.

As well as its popular youth group, it had a cafe for more than 25 years, which closed in 2018.

It is hoped the church will still have a presence in the town centre and will continue to do some of its works.

The Methodist church has a number of other venues in Darlington, including The Well, in North Road, and Elm Ridge.

A decision on what will happen to the building has not yet been made.

Revd Howard said: "Myself and others in the church can't see any viable way to keep the building open because it needs a huge amount of work. Our position is that we would like to see if there are any good uses for it.

"I think the prospect of finding anything in the current climate is less hopeful than it was."