A former Methodist church in Nottingham has a new lease of life as a place of worship after previously being closed and empty.
The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) – an evangelical Christian denomination which started in Brazil – is now based in the building on Lower Parliament Street, which dates back to the 1800s.
It comes after plans to turn the former base of the UCKG church, in Thurland Street, into student accommodation were recently approved by Nottingham City Council.
The UCKG is currently in over 100 countries and is still expanding with the full refurbishment of the Lower Parliament Street site – which is currently surrounded by scaffolding.
In 2018 there was an application to turn the building into apartments following its closure as a Methodist church, but the plans never materialised. At the time, the building was also home to a cafe, hall and office spaces.
The site was then listed for sale in 2019 for £350,000.
This month, UCKG has applied to turn part of its building into accommodation for pastors to live next to the place of worship.
The group wants to turn one of the floors of the building in Lower Parliament Street into accommodation so pastors can live close by.
The church says that its other 37 churches in the country operate in the same way, with rooms to accommodate sleeping, shower, living and dining areas.
As part of the plans there will also be a 24hr telephone line “to attend to any needs of its congregants and the wider community and also to increase security”.
Documents with the application stated: “The site is occupied by the applicant who is currently operating as a place of worship, services are on the lower levels of the building.
“The floor above is not in use, however, the applicant has assigned Pastors to this branch who currently lives at a distance from the premises. This causes the staff (the Pastors) to commute to the location, which causes a lot of disturbance to the running of the organisation and the community.
“However, due to the current circumstances and to make use of an empty space, the UCKG is proposing to adapt the empty space to create a staff/key worker accommodation (the Pastors).”
Nottingham City Council will now decide on whether to approve the application.
