A Christian-led charity faces eviction after clashing with the Church in Wales (CiW) over the use of their building.
In 2020, The Parish Trust charity started using the St Thomas Church building in Caerphilly as a base, for free rental, with the full knowledge and blessing of the CiW and local bishop. The Trust claims that for the next three years they were led to believe the CiW would sell the building to them. However, in May 2023 lawyers for the CiW requested they either accept a tenancy agreement or vacate the premises.
The Parish Trust began during the pandemic, aiming to meet the needs of the local community. Due to quick growth, they resolved to buy the St Thomas Church building to make it their permanent base, and were advised that the first step was to formerly petition Bishop Cherry Van to make the church redundant. They requested this in August 2020.
Under the impression that they would be able to purchase the building, they made £50,000 worth of improvements during their time there. They had meetings where the sale was discussed, were asked to remove the church fittings, and a diocesan official arranged a survey and valuation.
In August 2022, two years after their initial request, St Thomas Church was officially made redundant by the bishop – only for that decree to be rescinded the following month. Fifteen days later, The Trust were presented with the first of two tenancy agreements. The terms of these agreements included having ‘no acts of worship or religious use’ in the building, ‘not to call the premises “St Thomas Church” and that ‘the tenancy can be terminated immediately, upon one month’s notice’.
The Trust rejected the terms and is now searching for a new location.
The Revd Dean Roberts is founder of The Parish Trust, and also had care for St Thomas Church until he resigned in January 2023 in order ‘to focus 100% on the charity’. He shared with en that ‘the church in Wales started to take a different tone with the charity in early 2023’ after he resigned. Instead ‘of dialogue and discussion, hardened legal language started’.
The Trust has helped an estimated 9,000 people, and food banks and youth clubs are among its several programmes. If evicted without a building to move to, they risk making staff redundant and the closure of all programmes. They are now seeking to meet with the CiW to ‘agree a mutually-beneficial arrangement, giving The Parish Trust reasonable time to find suitable new accommodation’. At the time en went to print, they had been waiting for one month to hear from the CiW’s Head of Property regarding this.
A spokesperson from the office of Bishop Cherry Van commented: ‘The Church in Wales is committed to finding a way forward that is agreeable to both The Parish Trust and the Church in Wales.’
