Fellowship moves into church thanks to funding gift
A £14m church, believed to be the largest purpose built church facility in England since Guildford Cathedral was constructed in the 1930s, has been completed.
Barclays Commercial Bank in West Yorkshire has provided a £9m finance package to Huddersfield Christian Fellowship to enable the church to move into purpose built premises.
The building on St Thomas’ Road in Huddersfield is the biggest new church to be built in Great Britain for more than 20 years and can seat 2,100 people in the main auditorium.
The premises also include a large bookshop, a café, a modern indoor and outdoor play gym for children, conference facilities available for hire, teaching rooms, onsite parking, disabled access and a state of the art sound system.
United team: (l to r) James Clarkson (Huddersfield Christian Fellowship), Nick Russell (relationship manager with Barclays Commercial in West Yorkshire), Andrew Kisumba, Pastor Colin J Cooper and Gordon Tose (all Huddersfield Christian Fellowship).
Andrew Kisumba, spokesman for the church, said: “The new premises are awesome and we are already seeing an increase in the number of visitors using our facilities and attending services.
“The funding from Barclays has enabled us to complete the second phase of our project and we really appreciate the support and advice they have provided for our expansion.
“In addition to this, Barclays have also generously agreed a £2,000 donation towards the children’s play area.”
Nick Russell, relationship manager with Barclays Commercial in West Yorkshire, said: “We are delighted that we have been able to support the Huddersfield Christian Fellowship with this transaction which demonstrates Barclays are open for business and committed to the West Yorkshire market.
“The new premises are extremely impressive and we look forward to continue working with the management team to meet their expansion goals and put the premises to good use for the local community.”
The executive architect of the development, Mark Sidding, added: “This will be an enthralling, state of the art facility, designed to house the church, and benefit the wider community.”
The launch of the new premises will be officially celebrated with X Factor star Rhydian Roberts and the London Community Gospel Choir visiting Huddersfield to take part in the grand opening of Cathedral House at a special concert on Sunday.
