Ron Murray prepares for his first service in the new St Paul's in Carcoar

"I never had any doubts that we wouldn't get the church, because in all sincerity the Carcoar and Blayney communities have an extremely strong community conscience," he said.

"With an icon like St Paul's it would have been extremely sad if it had become a private home."

The last service in St Paul's was held in January 2020 for the church's 175^th anniversary, and with COVID restrictions now being lifted, the first service in the now non-denominational church has been slated for Sunday November 7 at 9am.

"There will be a morning prayer service and we'll be complementing the Catholic church which is on the second and fourth Sunday by having ours on the first and third," he said. "We'll also be working with them regarding the Christmas services and we'll dovetail in with them."

As the church is no longer an Anglican one, Mr Murray said that the service would be open to everyone.

"It's going to be a non-denominational service, but I'll be using the Anglican service prayer book," he said. "And we've got one retired clergyman who will help us out every now and then."

During lockdown the local supporters of the church have been hard at it returning the garden to its former state by removing noxious weeds and opening up the view of the historic building.

Donations are also still continuing to roll in and Mr Murray believes that once the services recommence, the church will bloom. "Once we start community activities it will really steamroll along," he said.

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