SOUTHEND churchgoers will soon be worshipping in a stunning new church – finally bringing to reality a plan first hatched before the Second World War.

The striking, curved beams which form the skeleton of the new £2million Cornerstone United Reformed Church can already be seen jutting above the roofs of homes near the junction of Bournemouth Park Road and Central Avenue.

Church elder Derek Goodyear, who also chairs its redevelopment committee, outlined the history of the site and explained exactly how long the congregation had been waiting for a new home.

He said: “The original church was in Warrior Square in the 1880s and moved to this site in 1926. In the early Thirties, the present church was built to be used as a church hall.

“In 1936, the hall started being used as a church, to allow the old building to be replaced, but the project stopped at the outbreak of the Second World War.”

Some 70 years later, the church hall is still being used for worship – though not for too much longer.

Two factors came together to allow church elders to revive the building project, which, if all goes to plan, will be completed by March 2012.

The first was a decision by four Southend United Reformed Churches, including the Cornerstone, to pool their resources.

Mr Goodyear, 52, said: “We realised we needed a new building, suitable for the 21st century.”

“The Green Hut, as it had become known – the old Victorian Tin Tabernacle – had been condemned, so we could not stage public events, which are the lifebloods of a church such as ours.”

When it came to the design, the committee turned to Ingatestone architectural practice Mathews Serjeant, which designed Shoebury’s Baptist church.

The current congregation numbers about 100, but the new church will have room for more than 300.

Its foyer will double as a cafe when there are no services, while youth organisations, such as the Girl Guides and the Scouts, will use parts of the building.

Local clubs and societies will also be invited in to share what elders hope will become a centre for the whole community.

A March 2012 completion date should also allow the congregation to show off its new building to a wider, more secular audience. Mr Goodyear said plans were afoot to have a big screen, showing the 2012 Olympics to local people.

When the new church is ready, the nearby former church hall will be replaced with a new, smaller hall with its own car park.

Mr Goodyear said: “The church will have a tower on the corner of Central Avenue and Bournemouth Park Road. It will have three crosses, but no bells – that’s not what the United Reformed Church does. That would be a bit ostentatious for us.”