Ardeer Church in Stevenston is closing – with preparations now underway for the union of the congregation with Livingstone Parish Church.

Ardeer’s fate was set out in ‘Faith and Fellowship’, the quarterly magazine for Ardeer and Livingstone Church which detailed the issues discussed by both Kirk Sessions at meetings in late November around the forthcoming union.

A report put forth at the meeting specified that the General Trustees of the Church of Scotland would take over full responsibility of the closed Ardeer Church Building from the date of union.

Both parishes will lose their current names and new names will be found.

It also highlighted outstanding matters in relation to Ardeer Church including repairs in the region of £200,000 which is still required despite all previous works.

A spokesperson for the Church of Scotland said: “The Church of Scotland manages one of the country’s largest property portfolios comprising around 4,000 properties.

“These include churches, manses, halls and houses as well as a large number of care services and a variety of other buildings.

“We have had an excess of church buildings since the 1920s, and it is our priority to focus on ensuring that the Church has well equipped buildings in the right places.

“Set against a backdrop of wider reforms within the Church of Scotland, the union of the congregation of Ardeer with Livingstone Parish Church, has been planned for some years as part of the Presbytery Plan of the Presbytery of Ardrossan.

“Following a review, a decision was taken to no longer maintain both buildings, which are located approximately 500m apart.

“There were particular concerns around the need for future investment in the maintenance of Ardeer Church, and this was felt to be impossible for the congregation to meet.

“However, whilst the building is closing, the Church is not leaving and a community development worker will continue to work in the surrounding area with the local community.”