Final service to be held at village church before it closes

A church will be holding its final service today after it was decided to close due to falling congregation numbers. Fleet Baptist Church has been serving the village for nearly 150 years but this will come to an end later today (Sunday, April 20) when a final thanksgiving service will be held. Members made the unanimous decision on March 25 that the church in it’s current form should close due to the size of the congregation.

A statement for the church said: “Numbers attending the church have reduced noticeably, particularly since the 2020 pandemic, and this has created difficulties for those remaining to serve the community as they would wish to do. “A final Service of Thanksgiving for God's faithfulness to the fellowship in Fleet will be held on Easter Day (April 20) at 3pm. The service will be taken by the Rev N Ashton (Melton Mowbray) and the Rev D Hughes (Bourne) will bring God's Word.



” Records indicate that a fellowship of this persuasion has existed in Fleet since 1681, a period of almost 350 years. The present chapel building dates from 1876, the adjacent older building being of uncertain date..