There are real fears that the church at the centre of Radstock will close and the congregation be combined with another methodist church up in Westfield.

Nub News has had the news confirmed by one of the parisioners that the local church is having a review of whether it is still a feasible site for religious services.

The Methodist Church is a huge building in Fortescue Road and the adjacent hall, pre-coronavirus used for playgroups, coffee meetings and the Town Council meetings, is an expensive space to heat and light.

The Revd Martin Slocombe, Minister at Trinity (Radstock & Westfield) Methodist Churches is undertaking a review of the church which currently only has around 50 regular members of the congregation.

The news was greeted with unhappiness and a fear that should it close, would it be turned into flats. That post read : " I'm not a churchgoer by any stretch, but it would be an awful shame for the church to close and fall into disrepair or (worse) Developers!"

A spokesperson for the Methodist Church nationwide told Nub News: "

This has been an incredibly difficult year for everyone, and our members and their churches are no exception. For many churches, lockdown has meant a substantial drop in income, which will threaten the viability of some and will have long lasting consequences for all.

"There will be nervousness about returning to worship in physical spaces, when many churches have been closed for over a year. But there's also hope, where churches have been able to serve their neighbourhoods with new contacts and friendships formed. Where other forms of worship have flourished. new ways of prayer have been discovered.

"There are many reasons to be cautious, but there are also many reasons to be optimistic as we move out of a period where we have lost much but also learned much."

The Methodist church is just one of the sites of worship in Radstock. Up the road is St Hugh's Catholic Church in Wells Road. Although previously a printing works, it was converted into a church in 1929 and owned by trustees of Downside Abbey. It closed due to dwindling numbers in 2015, sold in 2017 and converted into flats.

Across the road from there, the Baptist church in Radstock is at number 6 Wells Hill, in Radstock. That is still a place of worship, although during the pandemic, as with all religious meetings they moved services on line. They do however have a social media page, and on that they say they are a "small - but growing church."

It is all a far cry from the communities back when mining was at its height. The day of rest from toil was marked by, excuse the pun, a religious devotion, whether it was chapel or church' perhaps to thank the higher powers for sparing the miners' lives during the week. Or perhaps to pay penance for the drinking the night before. Although this was the mark of the Methodist faith, which is so bound up with local history. Over in Paulton, John Welsley was one of those who came to preach his doctrine of social justice, fairness, modesty and .... " long-standing support of abstinence from alcohol as a faithful witness to God's liberating and redeeming love for persons."

Meantime in a sign of the times the local St J's group of churches are active their new ways to reach out to their congregations, without them needing to be physically at the churches.

When coronavirus led to lockdown they offered on-line services, counselling and updates via the Internet. The church group in Peasedown St John, Wellow, Less Foxcote and Shoscombe have even created a film to celebrate their new way of worshipping.

But for the aging congregation of Radstock Methodists that was not an option. When they were robbed of some technical equipment by thieves, Cllr Eleanor Jackson told Nub News how many of the congregation were not on-line, did not have email and would not be comforted by any virtual service.

It appears that churches in general, forced to adapt due to the lockdowns, with on- line prayers and hymns and services, are now delivering worship in a new way.

"I think there has been a digital coming of age." said The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell in a recent news release from the Church of England.

The Church of England's national online services alone have attracted more than 3.7 million views since the first restrictions on gatherings for public worship. Clips and content from the services have been seen 40 million times on social media channels.

But as Radstock Nub News discovered pre coronavirus when we were reporting from the Methodist adjoining hall, the site does not have Wifi.

Sadly, in these times, that is almost considered an essential service.