JUBILANT worshippers were punching the air as they returned to their worship space for the first time in eight years.

Easter Sunday at St Cuthbert's Church, Copnor

Churchgoers from St Cuthbert’s, Copnor, in Portsmouth, worshipped in a nearby school and a hall inside their church, as the building was transformed into a GPs’ surgery and community centre.

But the ambitious £4.5m project is now virtually complete. The £180,000 phase to refurbish the worship area in the west end of the original church was finished in time for their Easter Sunday service.

Bishop Christopher will visit the church at 2pm on May 26 to formally open the church and centre. The whole building will then be open to visitors. The celebration will mark the end of 12 years of planning and construction work designed to put the church at the heart of the community.

The vicar, the Rev David Power, said: “There was a real sense of celebration and genuine joy on Easter Sunday and people were literally punching the air and saying ‘Yes, we’re in!’

“It felt good when you think of all that has happened over 12 years. The building has had JCBs and dumper trucks inside, 100 tonnes of concrete have been poured in, and it’s been a noisy, dusty place. Now it’s almost as if the building now has to settle down to be a still place.

“We’ve also been a largely invisible congregation in that we’ve been worshipping in a school and hall and putting away everything we use each Sunday. Now we’re much more visible, we have a new entrance onto Lichfield Road and we can keep the worship space open during the day.

“I’ve said to the congregation that completing the building work is just the start. Now our job is to make sure that we are truly engaged in mission with our community, which was the point of the transformation of the building.

“But it’s not just the building that has been transformed. We as a congregation have changed, because we’ve had to live with uncertainty and depend on God much more. Going through struggles together has deepened our faith and brought us closer together.”

The original cavernous church building was split into three as part of the building project, which began in 2004. The GPs’ surgery at the east end was completed first, then a four-storey community complex which is used by a children’s centre, a pre-school, Portsmouth College students and other community groups.

Worshippers met in Langstone Junior School until 2008 and then on the top floor of the community complex inside the church while building work continued. The worship area was refurbished in time for three services over Christmas, but work then continued to complete the new entrance and foyer. Visitors can now access the church, community centre or surgery via the new foyer.

There is still some work remaining – worshippers want to install a new PA system, build a new vestry, landscape the garden and create a suitable backdrop for the altar. These final elements of the project will be done as funds permit.

There are also plans to create a new font as a centrepiece of the worship area. One dramatic design being considered would look like a swirling vortex of water rising from the earth, topped with a stainless steel bowl.