ATHERTON Parish Church will ring-in a new era next week.

For six years the town's centre-piece may have been out-of-bounds - but parishioners, worshippers, clergy and a host of craftsmen haven't been idle.

The impressive near 120 year-old building has undergone a £1m-plus rebuild to repair structural damage caused by age and arsonists.

The realisation of this Atherton dream, which meant climbing often seemingly insurmountable obstacles, comes to fruition when the Bishop of Bolton, the Rt Rev David Bonser rededicates the Parish Church of St John the Baptist on Tuesday - the Festival Day of St John the Baptist.

It will be standing room only as the Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Rev Christopher Mayfield, leads an open 7.30pm service to which the whole community is invited.

The fire destroyed tape playing equipment which summoned worshippers, and the bells won't toll again until replacement equipment is installed.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.