The congregation of the Torphins church will decide if the disused Lumphanan Church, which has been closed since 2005, will be put up for sale.

Members of the Lumphanan Heritage Society are hoping to prevent the church being sold for housing by turning the building into a heritage centre.

The heritage society, which has more than 200 members, is organising buses to take Lumphanan residents to the Mid-Deeside Church in Torphins so that they can participate in the crucial vote on the future of the church, which will follow the weekly Sunday service.

If the congregation decides to sell the building then the heritage society intend to apply to the Scottish Government for the right to buy the church. The group has already raised approximately £10,000 through a series of fundraisers and donations.

Irene Thomson, the secretary of Lumphanan Heritage Society, said it is vital that the church remains in the control of the people of Lumphanan.

She said: "Our ultimate aim is to try to buy the building and retain it. It will never be a practising church with regular services again but we would like to retain it as a heritage centre where weddings and funerals could also take place.

"Lumphanan has an ageing population and there are a lot of people who have been born and bred here, as well as christened and married, and they want to be buried here too, rather than in Torphins. The most important thing is that we keep the church in the control of the people of Lumphanan."

Other suggestions for how the church can be used include as an art gallery, a tea room or a MacBeth heritage centre as a tribute to the 11th century Scottish king who is believed to have died in Lumphanan in 1057.