After eight months of building work, St Leonard’s Church in Hove reopened this Easter Sunday for the first service in the renovated building.
The church hosted an informal family-friendly service for more than 200 people in the church at 11am on Sunday, 9 April.
Volunteers helped to move furniture back into the church last week after renovation works were completed on a new heating system, and renovated café inside the church.
Two regular Sunday services at 9am and 11am will resume at the church while construction on a new porch on the west entrance to the exterior church is finishing up.
“We welcomed many from the local community and our congregation as we celebrated this significant occasion together.
“Easter is a time of great significance for Christians around the world, as it marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the hope of eternal life. It’s a time of reflection, renewal, and gratitude for the blessings in our lives.
“The building work at St Leonard’s started in August 2022 and the specialist contractors have been hard at work restoring and enhancing the church building.
“The contractors have done an amazing job and we can’t thank them enough.
“One of the standout features of the new church is the repurposed choir stalls that have been transformed into a beautiful café area in the old chapel.
“This helps everything stay in keeping with the overall aesthetic of the church but also provides a wonderful new space for the community.”
The church was running midweek activities and Sunday services in the church hall on Glebe Villas while works were carried out.
St Leonards’ faced closure in 2016 and ran without an official clergy team until spring 2021, when Chichester Diocese was successful in a fundraising bid for money from the central Church of England.
The church hall was fully refurbished with a redesigned kitchen by the end of 2021, in autumn 2021 two of the St Peter’s clergy team were licensed to the parish of St Leonard’s.
