AN entire congregation will be hearing their sermons in a hall while a £225,000 refurbishment reshapes their church.

St Barnabas Church in Linthorpe, Middlesbrough closed on Sunday (APR 19) as work begun on the renovation.

The first service in the hall went without a hitch though it has been decided by the vicar to have two sermons on a Sunday to stop possible over crowding.

The Vicar of St Barnabas Church, the Reverend Canon Erik Wilson said: "After years of planning, we're delighted that work can finally start at St Barnabas. We're going to replace the floor of the Nave with hardwood, do structural repair to the base of the stone pillars, remove the pews to make way for comfortable chairs and improve the audio visual system."

"The work will be sensitive to the church's fabric, and the materials, design and craftsmanship will be of the highest quality, reflecting our commitment to the worship of God. "We anticipate that the work will take four to five months to complete, and the whole project will be celebrated when the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, rededicates the church on Sunday 1st November."

It was a big job moving out of the Victorian Church, Cannon Wilson said: "Everybody mucked in to do their bit, some of the parishoners have taken things from the church, we have even sold some of the old pews."

More than £200,000 was raised by members of the congregation and an extra £31,500 was donated by Teesside-based Impetus Environmental Trust.

Canon Wilson said: "Fortunately we have raised the money needed for the refurbishment however we could still use donations as there may be some unforeseen costs."

"It has been a long time coming, its so exciting to see the plans we have been making for years coming to fruition."

"We had our first service In the hall and it went really well, the congregation have responded fantastically to the change I think we all know it needs to happen."

For more information on the project, or to donate toward the cost of reordering, contact Canon Wilson on 01642-812622.