Sussex Inlet ready for another fight to save its historic church

The Uniting Church is stepping up its efforts to sell its site on Jacobs Drive, threatening to force a major shake-up to the closely knit community.

It made similar moves on 2017, but dropped the plans after a huge backlash from the Sussex Inlet community.

Originally donated by the Ellmoos family to the Methodist Church, the church and hall in the heart of Sussex Inlet is home to a range of organisations and activities, including the monthly Sussex Inlet market conducted on the church grounds and the neighbouring park.

The church has been leased to the Sussex Inlet Community Church in recent years, but the church's leader, Pastor Rob Beswick, said he and the congregation had been told to vacate by August 5.

He said the market's organisers had asked him what they were going to do come August, whether they would still be able to access the same grounds they had been using for many years.

He said they should speak to the Uniting Church which was "not talking to me".

The church hall is also used by a range of organisations including Sussex Inlet Ladies Konnecting (SILK), an art group, a community men's breakfast "and other people from time to time," according to Pastor Beswick.

A combined churches prayer group also uses the facilities for a weekly gathering, while a ukulele group recently vacated the premises, seeking an alternative home that was more stable.

Pastor Beswick said the church was at the centre of the Sussex Inlet community.

"It's the spiritual heart of Sussex Inlet - it's not just the physical heart, it's the spiritual heart as well," he said.

The Uniting Church recently announced it had terminated the Sussex Inlet Community Church's lease "to undertake maintenance and repairs as it considers the future of the site".

It said the decision followed "unsuccessful attempts to sell the property at a discounted rate well below market value to a range of community stakeholders" including the Sussex Inlet Community Church.

Pastor Beswick said that was "not factually correct", as he was told of plans to sell the building in late 2022 during a meeting with local Uniting Church leaders.

Pastor Beswick said during that meeting he was told the property had been valued at between $925,000 and $1.2 million, and if he came up with an offer at the lower end of that rage "it would be considered favourably".

The idea was rejected.

"No church that I would lead would be prepared to go into debt to purchase a property," Pastor Beswick said as he dismissed the $925,000 price tag as "just ridiculous".

A for sale sign was put on the church grounds early last year, and Sussex Inlet Community of Chamber president Sandra Gray said a local businessman had offered the Uniting Church about $500,000 to buy the site, but it was refused

"He wanted to try and keep it for Sussex, and help develop it for a community hub in the middle of town," she said.

Another person from Victoria had reached an agreement to buy the site, but pulled out after a closer inspection and meeting the Sussex Inlet community, Ms Gray said.

She questioned why anyone would buy the property that was zoned for a church, and was also subject to rigid flood control regulations.

Ms Gray said the chamber had written to the Uniting Church "to express our concerns", but had received no response.

During discussions a few years ago about future use of the church site the chamber offered to take over the hall's management and maintenance to "turn it into a community facility, and really make it into a vibrant hub for our town," Ms Gray said.

"We wanted the hall to become a community resource that we could use for many things," including possibly a museum detailing the region's history including the role played by the Ellmoos family.

Ms Gray said she spoke to members of the Ellmoos family during the recent Sussex Inlet Viking Festival, and they were "appalled" to hear something their grandfather had donated was possibly being sold for a profit.

The Uniting Church said proceeds from the sale could help people in need.

"We are strongly committed to utilising the site or any potential sale proceeds to best support the local community, particularly those families and individuals in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven regions that are really struggling and doing it tough," said the church's Rev. Dr Matthew Wilson.

"Although not easy decisions to make, as a church we must dedicate resources to the people and places where the need is greatest," he said.

Meanwhile Pastor Beswick said he was "reasonably peaceful" about the future of the church and his congregation as he trusted in God.

"I've got the faith to believe something good will come of it, or something better will come along," he said.