A CHURCH’S final service after serving Cowley for nearly 140 years was a celebration of community and faith.

The Revd Dick Wolff, of Temple Cowley United Reformed Church, said that the church was ‘in God’s hands now’ as he handed over the keys at the end of Sunday’s moving service.

More than 100 people filled the Oxford Road church, which has closed as a result of Revd Wolff’s retirement and a lack of leadership required to keep it going.

The service was led by The Revd Clare Downing, moderator of the United Reformed Church Wessex Synod.

Speaking to the congregation, she said: “I believe that God hasn’t turned his back on us.

"He is still with us and continues to work through people who have been part of this church. God has not let us go.”

The church’s final service was a combination of prayers, hymns and reflections on the past 140 years.

While acknowledged as a time of sadness, ministers urged those gathered to reflect on the church’s past success in the community – a mission that has now drawn to a close.

Revd Wolff, who has served as the church’s minister for the past 16 years, said the final service was an emotional experience.

He said: “I had tears in my eyes at some points but just about got through the last prayer.

"It’s odd, but on the other hand we’ve been working towards this for several years.

“One thing that became very clear that the church has been, and in some places still is, like an extended family to people.

"Young and old co-exist in the same community for generations.”

Revd Wolf added that the church’s closure could, at least partially, be attributed to the success of those who served it.

He said: “One thing that occurred to me is that, in some sense, the church is a victim of its own success.

“Two women who served the church went on to become ministers.

"We’ve done such a good job of encouraging people into leadership that they’ve gone off to do something else, and enough of them have gone off that there’s not enough here to keep it going.”

The service on Sunday concluded with the Bible being taken out through the church’s main door and into the world.

Responsibility for the Oxford Road church will now pass to a trustee body, The United Reformed Church Wessex Trust, while a new permanent owner is sought.

Community groups who currently use the building will be able to continue in the short-term but the future of the building is uncertain.

The remaining flock will spread among a mixture of Methodist, Anglican and Baptist churches in Marston, Cowley and Wolvercote.

Founded in 1878 as a Congregational Church when Cowley was still a village on the outskirts of Oxford, membership soared during the 1930s as migrant workers flooded into the new city suburb.

A larger building opposite Cowley Police Station was completed in 1930 and this is where the church remained based until Sunday.