Post in the pulpit: Churches told to offer services in order to survive
CHURCHES should offer postal services and flu jabs to better serve communities, a government review has found.
The report found that churches needed more help to set up community events such as coffee mornings and exercise classes to make sure they get enough funds to stay open. It even recommended that churches could set up skate parks to attract young people.
The review said a network of community support advisers should be created to give advice to churches and help them talk to local councils about how their buildings could be better used.
“There are many examples of innovation throughout the sector. Equally, there are many congregations struggling to identify suitable partnerships and opportunities, or who are too overwhelmed by their situation to be able to explore options,” the report said.
An example of good practice highlighted was St Cuthbert’s Church, Copnor, in the diocese of Portsmouth, which incorporated a GP surgery into its redesign.
The review added that there were misunderstandings about the way in which church buildings were funded such as “a common assumption, that they are managed and maintained by well-resourced and endowed bodies”.
In most cases the upkeep of parish churches is funded by the central Church but falls instead to the local community, which has proved difficult as congregations dwindle.
The report said there needed to be “a balance between innovation and adaptation of buildings to suit modern needs and the appreciation and preservation of what is of historical significance”.
The review was chaired by Bernard Taylor and prepared by experts including Loyd Grossman, the chairman of the Heritage Alliance, Sir Simon Jenkins of the Churches Conservation Trust and Sir Peter Luff of the Heritage Lottery Fund. Mr Taylor said: “Increased use and helping communities in their broadest form to see the value and potential of the local church is the key to the church building becoming more self-sustaining and ultimately ensuring its long-term survival.”
He said that local churches should each be able to make decisions without being dictated to by the national Church. “I think the local community has to decide what to do to use its building in a respectable and sensible way,” he told The Daily Telegraph. The review recommended that pilot schemes should be set up in urban and rural areas to test the proposals, which also suggested that heritage experts should be appointed to consult with local churches about maintenance.
Heritage groups and the Church of England welcomed the review. The Bishop of Worcester, the Rt Rev John Inge, lead bishop on cathedrals and church buildings, said churches had become “social hubs for people of all ages, spaces to offer hospitality and vital services to the vulnerable; churches increasingly are the glue in community life”. John Glen, Heritage Minister, said: “This review is an important first step to building a more sustainable future for thousands of church buildings across the country, and we will look at these recommendations carefully.”