Church of Scotland agrees to sale

BCF are very pleased to announce that due to the generous support of donors, we have been able to raise the amount required to put in an offer for Bedrule Church.

Even better news is that the Church of Scotland have agreed to the offer.

Of course, there remain many details to discuss before signatures can be placed on dotted lines, but BCF hope that we will have the keys to the door before Christmas 2025. We are also hoping this will give us time and opportunity to hold a small festive celebration, but further details on this will have to wait until all negotiations with CoS and Scottish Borders Council have been settled.

That we have been able to get to this point within a year of beginning the campaign, is a wonderful testament to the strength of feeling within the far-reaching Bedrule Church community. The members of BCF have been continually amazed and encouraged by the positivity and generosity of local, national and international supporters, most notably the Turnbull diaspora who rallied with great passion to save the place they consider their clan’s ‘ground zero’.

We hope that Bedrule Church will be able to host all its supporters in celebration soon, and grow its community long into the future.

Throughout this campaign, BCF have also been made aware of the numerous communities across Scotland attempting to save their own churches. We have been contacted by quite a few groups and individuals and are happy to be able to offer insight from our own experience. But we have also been saddened to learn of numerous groups unable to galvanise in time. It seems that the only positive thing to come from CoS’s drastic action, is that many rural populations have been encouraged to focus on their sense of community and to reinforce it wherever they can. Sadly, in many cases, the opportunity to create a central focus within their local church building has been lost.

We are so grateful to be able to consider the future of Bedrule Church as a community owned space, and look forward to a bright new chapter in its long history.