Campaign to reopen church at risk of being sold

There are plans to sell the church building

The congregation at a Kent church which closed 18 months ago is hoping to save the building from being sold.

A petition to reopen St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Cheriton, Folkestone, has more than 250 signatures since it started last week.

Mary Tilling, who organised the petition, told BBC Radio Kent the church had a "loving, growing community".

The Archdiocese of Southwark says the building requires "significant costs" and that there had been a falling number of worshippers.

Parishioners launched the petition, which was first reported by Kent Online, after they were told in September the church building would be sold.

Ms Tilling said it would be an "utter loss" if the church didn't reopen.

She added: "I will never step foot in another church ever again if the sale goes ahead."

Margaret Irving has been attending services at St Joseph’s since 1968

Margaret Irving had been attending services at St Joseph’s since she moved to the area from London in 1968.

She said selling the church would mean "taking the life of the community away".

Ms Irving added: "The church helped the elderly who didn’t really want to cook for themselves to have a decent lunch on Sunday and allowed people to have a space to be themselves.

"They weren’t judged for their views or what they did.

"They knew the community would accept them as they were and helped them through any crisis."

A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Southwark said St Joseph’s had been merged with Our Lady and St Joseph’s in Folkestone eight years ago, in an attempt to keep both churches open.

But they added the St Joseph’s building had "falling numbers of worshippers and the building requires significant costs.

"Our Lady and St Joseph’s in Folkestone is continuing to thrive and if the site is sold, the money raised will be reinvested into the parish."