Anger as Church of Scotland announce plans to demolish Garthdee Church and sell off land

Garthdee Church is to be demolished and sold on by the Church of Scotland in a move that has provoked anger in the community.

The building has been empty for about a year since the congregation was dissolved at the end of 2018.

There were plans to sell the church to another faith group or convert it to housing.

However, this never came to fruition so a decision was made to demolish the building.

Garthdee Community Council chairman Paul O’Connor described the move as the church “grossly letting down the community.”

According to the Church of Scotland, the site has been targeted by vandals and left in a poor state which is why they decided to clear the site and put the land up for sale.

There is also a continued risk to the neighbourhood if the building remains vacant for a long time.

A Church of Scotland spokesman said: “Garthdee Parish Church has been struggling in terms of managing charity governance responsibilities and resources since 2013.

“The Presbytery of Aberdeen and Shetland worked tirelessly with local office bearers to try and find a positive and long-term sustainable solution to financial challenges and declining numbers to try and ensure the congregation continued to serve at the heart of the community.

“Dissolution of the congregation was the last resort after an extensive and lengthy process of consultation and discussion during which the congregation was unable to reach a compromise position that would have seen a church presence of some kind continue in Garthdee.

“The Presbytery assisted the congregation as best it could and proposed a Basis of Union with Mannofield Church which would have created a new united Church with a new facility in Garthdee for outreach and mission work.

“The minister and office bearers at Mannofield were very enthusiastic and supportive of this proposal but the Garthdee congregation decided not to accept this”.

The Garthdee Parish is now overseen by South Holburn Church, who will be reaching out to the community as soon as Covid restrictions allow.

Reaction

However, Mr O’Connor slammed the Church of Scotland,  and said: “The move to close Garthdee church was one of the most short-sighted and unfair decisions I have seen in my 25 years of serving this community.

“The Church of Scotland was fully aware of the request and opportunity to give Garthdee church a one-year reprieve in order to turn around its fortunes, and the support from the wider community and organisations was guaranteed.

“Sadly self-interest and a lack of vision took priority and the Church of Scotland grossly let down our community.

“For the Church of Scotland to cite these reasons for closure and demolition within their press release shows an incredible level of contempt for the people of Garthdee, while let them be in no doubt whatsoever, not one single resident or former Garthdee church member, is remotely fooled by the rationale given for closure and now demolition,

“The residents of Garthdee will be deeply saddened and angry to hear of the intent to demolish the church.

“I find it somewhat offensive and disingenuous for the Church of Scotland to claim they worked tirelessly to find a workable and long term future, while at the same time completely ignoring the positive proposals on the table.”

A Church of Scotland spokesman responded to these claims.

He said: “The Church of Scotland understands the community’s concerns on the dissolution of Garthdee Parish Church but firmly rejects any suggestion of wrongdoing in reaching the difficult decision to demolish the building.

“Such an outcome is, as always, the last resort and is taken heavyheartedly as a result of a spate of vandalism.

“The congregation received eight years of continued direct support from Presbytery and chose to proceed to dissolution even though an alternative solution was available.

“A new expression of church in the area, which should better suit the needs of the surrounding community, is being planned. “