In a nation where some dormant churches have become public houses, or "pubs," as they are popularly called, a Seventh-day Adventist congregation is moving things in the opposite direction: they're taking a former pub and converting it into a church.

The Wolverhampton Pendeford Adventist Church completed the purchase of the new building shortly before Christmas 2005. The new building is a former pub, close to where the congregation currently meets at the Dovecotes Community Hall on Ryefield Road. News of the purchase made the front page of the local Wolverhampton Express and Star with the headline: "Wolverhampton Pub to be Transformed into Church."

District minister Pastor Richard Jackson pointed out that there is something of a history of Adventist churches taking over pubs in the Wolverhampton area.

"I knew that the Wolverhampton Great Brickkiln Street church building was a former pub, but when we were negotiating the purchase of this building, I learned that the Wolverhampton Wednesfield church had a similar history. Apparently their building was formerly a social club," Jackson said in an interview.

The Pendeford church has been meeting in a rented community centre for the last 21 years, but recent growth has forced the members to look seriously at buying a new building.

"We first started thinking about the building over the road a couple of years ago, but we only had 40 members at the time. Now our membership has grown to over 60, with most of the new members being under 25 [years old]. As well as the new members, we have lots of children, those belonging to our own members, but also an increasing number from the local community. Our attendance is now over 70 every week and our current building just isn't big enough."

When asked about the reason for the recent growth in attendance, and particularly the appeal that the church seems to have for young people, Pastor Jackson said, "It has just happened as young people have come along with their parents and then become involved in the program of the church. Our service style is a mixture of contemporary and traditional. Often we will have lively music with guitars, keyboards and drums, but usually this is to accompany the traditional hymns from the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal."

As well as the overcrowding on Saturday mornings, there are further limitations with the current building. "At the moment we can't do any of the outreach programs we would like to do," says Pastor Jackson. "For example, we are planning to run health programs and youth clubs and the like, and we just can't do that in our present situation."

The former pub cost around GBP (£) 290,000 (approx. EUR 423,000) and will need a lot of work to turn it into the kind of building the members desire, church leaders there say. However, they have been able to draw on several sources for the extra funds needed. These include local members, other churches in the North England area, the higher institutions of the church, a substantial loan, and assistance from the local [town] Council.

"The new building will seat over 200," says Pastor Jackson. "We have had detailed [architectural] plans drawn up and have obtained planning permission for the conversion, though we are still waiting for building regulations approval. If all goes to plan, we will have a main sanctuary seating 200, modern kitchen and toilet facilities, and a big section that will be turned into a learning centre in collaboration with the Wolverhampton City Council."

From his previous career, Jackson has considerable experience working with local government. He says he believes strongly in the need for cooperation between local churches and their communities.

"We have secured money from the council for this project," he says. "They will do the building and they will run the community programs, but there will be no strings attached. Our obligation is simply to allow them to be rent-paying tenants with access during the week. They will close at 12 noon on Fridays and won't do anything against the principles of the Adventist Church. It's an ideal arrangement where the church and the council work together to benefit the local community." [Editor: John Surridge for BUC/APD]