Worshippers at North Tawton Parish Church are delighted their pulpit has been partially restored to its ‘rightful’ position, following a row about its removal to the side of the church.

The pulpit has been once again turned to face the pews, albeit at the side of the church rather than in its original position.

Members of the congregation were upset when the St Peter’s Church vicar, the Rev David Spence, and the Parochial Church Council (PCC) announced they planned to remove the pulpit from the building completely as part of a move towards a more evangelical style of worship.

Advertised in the parish magazine Roundabout, the plan drew criticism from parishioners as ‘destructive’ to the interior of the church.

The pulpit had already been moved to the side of the church and turned to face away from the pews, sparking accusations of an ‘undemocratic’ move done without consulting church members.

Now, the decision to remove the pulpit has been reversed, after protests to the Exeter Diocese.

An unnamed member of the congregation who took the protest to the highest level of the diocese said: “When I went into St Peter’s I felt such joy and a weight was lifted off my shoulders when I saw the pulpit was facing the right way. But it is still not in its rightful position – it’s still at the side of the church.”

The Archdeacon of Totnes the Ven Douglas Dettmer, has assured her the changes have been made temporarily under a diocese licence for ‘a minor reordering of the church interior’ – authorising the moving of the pulpit to its new position for a trial period of up to 24 months.

The ‘reordering’ licence will ‘enable an experimental period during which the proposed move can be experienced by those who worship in and visit the church’.