DESPITE tough economic times the church has invested in building a modern, new vicarage on an urban estate in West Suffolk.

Archdeacon David Jenkins inspected the new St George’s Rectory, in Anselm Avenue, Bury St Edmunds, on Thursday.

The vicarage will be home to Captain Paul Tyler, a Church Army community minister, who will work with residents. The new £292,000 house has all the facilities expected in a modern parsonage, including disabled facilities.

The Venerable Dr Jenkins, who is Archdeacon of Sudbury, said: “We are constantly looking to provide the best possible base from which ministers can work serving local urban and rural communities.

“This vicarage was completed in little over a year, from design, through planning and to completion.

“It will be an excellent base from which Captain Tyler can support residents and demonstrates the church’s commitment to the local communities we serve.”

The old vicarage was sold by the Suffolk Church some years ago and Nicholas Edgell, chief executive of the St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Diocese, said: “There can be a perception that the church is in decline. But the reality is that in Suffolk we are working hard to reach out to these communities we serve by delivering mission and ministry in an effective, efficient and economic way.”

St George’s vicarage was built by the Norfolk-based company the M Y Group, who installed solar panels onto more than 100 vicarages and rectories during 2011.