Parishioners "extremely upset" as Derbyshire church holds its final mass before closing

The church, which first opened as a chapel in 1931, has been providing Saturday masses, charity and community events for over 90 years.

The final mass on Saturday will begin at 6.30pm, where parishioners – and anyone else who wishes to attend – are welcome.

The Church has been part of the Catholic Parish of Our Lady Queen of Peace Chesterfield, which runs two other churches in the area.

A spokesperson of the Catholic Parish said: “In the post-Covid era, a much-reduced congregation, combined with a quadrupling in heating, lighting and maintenance costs meant that we were forced to make the very painful and difficult decision to close the beautiful little Church of Holy Family.

“We have all prayed and hoped that circumstances would be anything other than how they are. But forced with our situation and after consultation with both the diocese and the parishioners of the church, the decision was made to close. The community will continue to be served by the Annunciation church which is one and half miles away."

Reacting to the imminent closure, one parishioner at the church said: “Obviously, we are all extremely upset about the closure of the church, but we have seen the inevitability of it.

“There is a lack of young members in the parish. We are all of a certain age – in our sixties and seventies, so we aren’t really able to keep up with the running of the parish. It was inevitable it would close.”