Norwich church moves into new home
Kim BriscoeA Norwich church which has had to move several times since its original building burnt down has found a new home where it hopes to stay for the next three years.Kim Briscoe
A Norwich church which has had to move several times since its original building burnt down has found a new home where it hopes to stay for the next three years.
The Norwich Family Life Church lost its previous home when it failed in an attempt to buy the 25,000 sq ft former MFI warehouse at the City Gates industrial estate where it had been based.
The church was given eight weeks to vacate the building and this week moved into an industrial unit in Mason Road, off Mile Cross Lane, next to the Hughes electrical store.
Four years go its Mount Zion Family Life centre was burnt to the ground in an arson attack, and the church is still holding out long-term hopes to revisit plans to rebuild on the Heartsease Lane site, despite being turned down for planning last year.
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Associate pastor Kingsley Armstrong said: 'We are still aiming to go back to Heartsease where the church was burnt down. It has been very difficult to find anywhere for a group of two to three hundred people.
'This unit became available six weeks ago. We have got to get planning permission for a change of use for this place and if we do then we hope to be here for three years.'
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The first service will take place this Sunday, and members of the church are working around the clock to get the unit in some sort of order by the weekend.
The church had provisionally booked the nearby Ramada Jarvis hotel, where the Proclaimers Church was based until its move to The Space, in Roundtree Way.
However, Mr Armstrong said this was never an ideal move as it would only be on Sundays and the church needed a permanent base for its office and for its Wildlife youth club and workshops.
Do you have a story for the Evening News? Contact reporter Kim Briscoe on 01603 772419 or email kim.briscoe@archant.co.uk.
