Spring funding boost for Bright Parish Church
Bright Parish Church, which is part of the Lecale Area Mission Partnership (LAMP), is to share in a £351,500 urgent funding pay–out from the National Churches Trust.
A £15,000 National Churches Trust Grant will help to pay for urgent repairs to the roof, leadwork, and rainwater goods. It will also facilitate the repointing in tower and floor in vestry, ensuring the church building can thrive today and tomorrow.
Bright Parish Church is a simple hall church on a much older, elevated site on the Lecale peninsula, with panoramic views across the Irish sea, the Mountains of Mourne, and the Lecale coastline. Antiquarian records suggest that the site has direct links to St. Patrick, with whom the Lecale area is intimately connected, being the birthplace of Christianity in Ireland.
The current church is notably unaltered. It retains its liturgical layout, built in a simple classical revival style. Despite some renewal, the interior retains elements such as the original floor, pews, openings and sanctuary, and has considerable authenticity.
Its simplicity reflects the fact that this is a small rural church, with longstanding links to the farming and seafaring communities which surround it.
Vicar of LAMP, the Very Revd Henry Hull said:
“We are exceptionally grateful for the support of National Churches Trust in supporting us with our restoration project. We are excited at the prospect of being able to realise our ambition of bringing the Church into line with modern expectations, and look forward to the range of outreach, engagement, community development and heritage preservation opportunities that will accompany this capital project over the years to come.”
Help for churches
Twenty–six churches across the UK will stay open and in good repair thanks to £351,500 of funding awarded by the National Churches Trust in this latest round of grants.
In 2022, the National Churches Trust made over 200 grants to churches throughout the United Kingdom, with funding totalling more than £1.6m.