A CHURCH that has been serving the Cowley community for almost 140 years will hold its final service on Sunday.

The Temple Cowley United Reformed Church is closing its doors to parishioners due to the retirement of current minister Revd Dick Wolff and a lack leadership to keep the church going.

Community groups who currently use the building will be able to continue in the short-term but the future of the building is uncertain.

Responsibility for the Oxford Road church will now pass to a trustee body, The United Reformed Church Wessex Trust, while a new permanent owner is sought.

Trust representative Revd Nigel Appleton said: “The trust needs to discharge its duties under Charity Commission guidance to secure the best outcome for the charity; but we are mindful of the needs and concerns of the local community, and will be looking for a future for the building that takes account of the interests of all parties.”

Revd Wolff said he was “extremely frustrated” not to be able to pass the building on to a successor, adding: “We knew the writing was on the wall about four years ago.

"It takes around half a dozen volunteers to keep a church going and many of our leadership team left Oxford and we found it impossible to replace them.”

He said the church community had tried to ensure the survival of the nearly 90 year-old building, saying: “We had it listed with the council as a community asset, which means local groups would have six months to raise their own bid if a developer came forward but realistically, that is just a stalling tactic.

“I do have confidence in Nigel Appleton, who I know is working very hard on this, but the charities act complicates things.”

Revd Wolff, who is retiring at the end of the month, concluded: “This is in many ways a sad day but we have much to give thanks for and the remaining members of the congregation will be supported as they settle in other congregations.”

The remaining flock will spread among a mixture of Methodist, Anglican and Baptist churches in Marston, Cowley and Wolvercote.

Founded in 1878 as a Congregational Church when Cowley was still a village on the outskirts of Oxford, membership soared during the 1930s as migrant workers flooded into the new city suburb.

A larger building opposite Cowley Police Station was completed in 1930 and this is where the church is still based.

A tradition of hospitality continued with the development of the church hall as the Emmaus Community House, and support for individual undocumented migrants.

With Sunday's closure, both local churches which used to dominate the Cowley landscape will no longer be places of worship.

Nearby St Luke’s on Temple Road was de-consecrated in 1994 following a declining congregation, and subsequently transformed into the Oxfordshire History Centre.

The congregation will mark the conclusion of its life as a place of worship with a service on November 5 at 3pm when the role of the church over its long history will be celebrated.