The church team are about to send letters to local householders to inform them about their work and seek expressions of support.
It will include renewing and upgrading the heating, sound and video systems, and significantly extending the availability of the building by modifying the floor space to provide an accessible, inclusive, flexible, space for community use, including support and wellbeing services.
The main church building is one of the largest indoor spaces in the South West. Replacing pews with flexible seating will provide an opportunity for events such as concerts and exhibitions of a scale not possible in current buildings.
Reverend Elsie Macrae hopes it will benefit both the cultural and business life of Moffat.
She said: “This church has served Moffat and the local area for well for over 100 years.
“Looking ahead, we know that church worship and activity throughout Scotland is going through a period of change and development to fully embrace community engagement.
“This is the right time for St Andrew’s to do the same and I am tremendously excited about the opportunities and benefits that can bring.
“Weekly worship and special ceremonies in this much-loved building would remain a priority, but with the proposed changes we would have the potential to provide added capacity for community, educational and family support activities for all ages throughout the week. This would be good news for everyone in Moffat.”
Session clerk Donald Walker added: “St Andrew’s Church in Moffat has always had a special place in the hearts of Moffat families and the community.
“We are now looking to the future and how our church building can develop to make a continuing contribution to the quality of all our lives. In doing so, we intend to work closely in partnership with the Town Hall Trust and all the voluntary groups who share that purpose.
“We stress in our letter to householders that we are not seeking donations – simply an expression of support. This can help us in demonstrating to grant bodies that the community is with us. We will distribute to every household in Moffat a letter explaining our proposals which asks for a simple signature to indicate support for our project. The signed letters will be collected, counted and then be shredded so that no personal information will be retained.
“Significant numbers supporting could be a vital part of our grant submissions.”
