Preston church that ‘summoned the dead’ set to become a bungalow

The Cup of Hope and Truth Foundation Independent Christian Spiritual Church, on Blue Bell Place, has not held services for more than five years after its congregation dwindled to zero.

The place of worship - off Church Street, on the edge of the city centre - was established in 1955 as the James Gardner Christian Spiritualist Church.

In later years, when it became known as The Bluebell Christian Spiritual Church, the 50-capacity venue attracted healthy numbers - meaning it was sometimes standing room only.

The problems began when attendance plummeted around a decade ago and the fabric of the single-storey structure started to deteriorate.

Plans have now been lodged with Preston City Council to turn the property - at the back of the also now vacant Ye Olde Blue Belle pub - into a single-bedroomed, single-level home.

Reverends Michelle Bailey and Charles Green, who were trustees of the church from 2017/18, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that it had become impossible to keep it going.

“People just stopped coming - Reverend Charles was there to hold the services, but nobody would turn up.

“The condition of the building was also very bad. He had actually managed to renovate it in 2017 and it looked very nice.

“[But] then people stopped coming - and that was that. Once that happens, you can't afford to keep up the maintenance of the building.

“I’d just like to say [to those people who used to come] that we tried our very best,” Reverend Bailey added.

Reverend Green said maintenance was made even more difficult by the church adjoining another building - and the need for both parties to commit to resolving any issues.

“Water started coming in and we had to get all the electrics changed, but in the end, we were spending too much money on it.

“I thought, [the building] doesn't want to live anymore, so I'm just going to let it go. There was no-one coming anyway - so that was it.

The building was eventually sold at auction and the application for residential conversion has been submitted by Sheffield-based SK Houses 430 Ltd..

The firm has proposed internal works to partition, repair and insulate the premises, which it claims have “limited scope for alternate uses”.

Meanwhile, Reverend Bailey says in spite of the ultimately terminal decline in her own church's congregation, she believes spiritualism itself is alive and well.

“A lot of it is [about] upliftment and healing - and basically love. It's to show that life continues after death.

“Our loved ones are in heaven…[but] their souls are alive and continue to love and to care.”

An unconnected spiritualist church - the Preston Ethical Spiritualist Church - continues to operate in the Ashton area of the city.