A massive fundraising effort is underway to save one of Melbourne’s oldest churches from closing down.

The construction of the sandstone Christ Church in Acland Street began in 1854, and now architects say the crumbling sandstone, leaking gutters and roof need to be fixed urgently.

It’s one of the few buildings left in Victoria made from sandstone.

Father Turi Hollis told Neil Mitchell time was catching up to them, and $5 million is needed to save it.

“We’ve got to raise a lot of money, but we want to avoid (it closing) as much as possible,” he said.

“Our architect tells us if we don’t get underway in the next five years we will have to close it down.”

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