Anger over decision to close down kirk before new one is built

Congregation pledges to stay put as church’s handling of affair described as ‘disgrace’

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‘SHUT OUT’: Church officer Bill MacKenzie in St Columba High Church yesterday. Sandy McCook

A row has erupted over the Church of Scotland’s decision to close an Inverness kirk – before a replacement is built.

The church has decided that St Columba High in Bank Street will close on May 9 as part of moves by Inverness Presbytery to reduce the number of churches in the city centre.

A new one will be built in the Holm area to the south of the city to try to attract more worshippers from the growing population there.

In the meantime, the 80 or so regular St Columba High congregation, who have worshipped at the church for more than a century, would have nowhere to go.

The intention is to plough the money raised by the sale of the church into the new one.

Bill MacKenzie, the officer at St Columba High for 23 years, described the kirk’s handling of the issue as “a disgrace”.

He said: “We’ve been shut out and told to shut up. Why the sudden rush? Hitting us with this closure just a few months ago is not fair. The congregation were given no option. They were told to ‘take it or leave it’.

“We are fighting to keep this place open as we’ve nowhere else to go.

“This closure came out of the blue and we’ll stay put until we know there’s a buyer, then we haven’t got an axe to grind.

“It’s not fair on the elderly people who have been there for 30 or 40 years, some of whom won’t be around to move anyway.”

Mr MacKenzie, of the city’s Firth View Drive, added: “The Church of Scotland have sat on their hands for six years and they’ve made no effort to have a church built. All we had over that time was rumours of what may or may not happen.

“If a sale is not imminent and there is no buyer, why should we move ourselves out? We should be allowed to stay there. It’s functional and comfortable.”

A spokesman for the Church of Scotland has acknowledged that “not everyone is happy” about leaving the riverside location, but claimed the plans were approved followed meetings with the congregation last summer.