Unfair to keep churches shut when shops can open, says poll

CHURCHES should be opened again to help people grieve for loved ones lost to Covid-19, and not kept shut in lockdown long after shops are allowed to reopen, according to a survey.

Signs of frustration over places of worship being among the last places to open up again were evident in the survey. It shows that half of all UK adults think churches should allow people in again before July 4, the current planned opening date. The figure rises to 66 per cent among regular churchgoers.

The poll by Savanta ComRes for the National Churches Trust also shows that nearly half of respondents think that once reopened the most important role for places of worship will be to hold remembrance services for those who died during the pandemic, while 44 per cent think they are vital for providing a place of private reflection or prayer.

Among those who are urging the Government to rethink the continuing lockdown is broadcaster and author Sir Michael Palin, a vice-president of the National Churches Trust, who said: “Keeping churches closed has taken away what churches do. It has severed their connection with people at a time of great mental anguish for many when they should be open and accessible.”

MPs have also expressed their concern. Last week 20 Conservative MPs wrote to Boris Johnson to urge him to allow churches to open now. The group, led by Sir Peter Bottomley, wrote: “It seems odd that you can go for a walk, enter a busy supermarket, get on a bus, but cannot go to a large, virtuallyempty-for-much-of-the-time building.”

In a second poll for the National Churches Trust, three quarters of the vicars questioned said that church closures during lockdown has had a negative impact on the community as not only religious services but all kinds of welfare and social organisations have been unable to use their spaces.

Clerics across the country said that money from the collection plate, as well as takings from organisations that use church halls and other buildings, and fees for funerals and weddings have disappeared during lockdown.

The Rev Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, the rector of three city centre churches in Liverpool, said: “I am trying not to panic. We have a lot of organisations that normally use our buildings and if we don’t get their rentals back in a few months, I’m not sure we will be viable.”