After nearly 150-years, a community church in Cottam is closing its doors.
Trustees at Brooker Baptist Church on County Road 27 recently made the decision to begin the closure process after years of revival attempts.
An expression of interest is underway for charities or non-profit organizations that may want to take over the building and property.
Trustees will consider donating the church to the right group and the site would be transferred in an 'as in' condition with all expenses related to renovations, re-zoning and site alterations being at the expense of the new owner.
Treasurer Mary Birch, who has attended the church since she was one-week old, says there's been interest in the building already, "We've had some inquiries, some organizations have made some site visits so we're hoping to get some good proposals. Different things, anything from a daycare to private school to an outreach facility".
The church will continue to offer services at 10am on Sunday mornings until the end of the year and Birch says a final celebration will be held before the new owner takes over.
She adds they would like to partner with the new owner. "Our hope is that whoever takes over the facility would maybe have room for us to still meet for a couple of hours on Sunday and have our service, but if that's not the case then we'll be looking for somewhere else to go."
Proposals from community groups will be accepted until Friday, Sept 5.