AFTER months of uncertainty, the congregation of Innerleithen, Traquair and Walkerburn Church has decided what to do with its four crumbling church buildings.
These require more than £1.5million to be spent on them to bring them up to modern, legal standards.
Against this background of massive costs, church members decided at a well-attended annual meeting earlier this month to sell two of the buildings
and upgrade and repair two others.
Walkerburn Church, with a dwindling fortnightly attendance, will be closed and put on the property market for sale.
The Kirk Session will attempt to find a way to keep a worshipping presence in the village.
The historic Traquair Kirk will have the necessary repair work carried out to enable it to continue as a place of worship.
Plans for Innerleithen Church, which is a grade B listed building and must remain as a place of worship under rules laid down by Historic Scotland, aim to upgrade the present building and turn it into a two-story centre for church and community use.
Innerleithen Church Hall and its surrounding grounds will be sold to raise funds toto permit the other developments to go ahead.
Commenting on these plans, the parish minister, the Reverend Janice Faris, commented: "As a church we can now start working out just what we want to do and move forward positively.
"This is a wonderful and challenging opportunity to build for the future of the church in our communities.
"The next step is to take these plans to the Presbytery of Melrose and Peebles."
The full article contains 268 words and appears in Southern Reporter newspaper.
