It’s no sin to keep open a country church that has served for 1,000 years
sir – The Rev David Keighley says: “It is sinful not to sell empty churches” (report, March 2). By his definition, my local parish church is “a museum gathering dust”. I beg to differ.
Our congregations rarely exceed 30, other than for major festivals and (in non-covid circumstances) weddings and funerals, but possibly they have not done so for centuries past.
Yet the church has been at the heart of the village since before the Norman Conquest and, God willing, will remain so for at least another millennium.
It is, as our former archdeacon once said, perhaps to his subsequent embarrassment, “the place where people go in times of disaster”.
Despite efforts by the Government and the church hierarchy to lock the doors and switch off the lights over the past 12 months, we have kept them resolutely burning, with a service every Sunday when permissible.
These have been supplemented by online services, and, while the uptake has been encouraging, we do not accept they are more than a substitute for the “real thing” – certainly not the key to a golden future, as some think.
Whether sinful or not, our church is not for sale.
Bill Gunn
Woolhope, Herefordshire
sir – Our church is now open on Sunday afternoons for private prayer, and I have been playing hymns quietly as an aid to contemplation. More and more are coming to enjoy this.
However, when I am alone in this ancient building, I am still very conscious of being “surrounded by a crowd of witnesses”.
While I agree in the main with the Rev Duncan Beet (Letters, March 3), will I get the same buzz if worshippers meet in our new village hall? Christine Whild
Marcham, Oxfordshire
sir – The Rev David Keighley doesn’t seem to understand how many small churches work. A small nucleus keeps them going, cleans, repairs and pays the huge “parish share” to the diocese, so that for high days, weddings, funerals, baptisms, school nativity plays, carol services and concerts the church can be packed.
Zoom, although doing great service, will not pay for one member of the clergy – certainly not for burgeoning bureaucracy and a plethora of bishops. Alix Booth
Burbage, Wiltshire
sir – Why not reorganise churches so they can be used as the community halls that they once were, rather than sell them off for housing? Many rural churches now have secondary uses, for markets, meetings, entertainment.
They boast toilets and kitchens, and
often have great acoustics for concerts. Many, as listed buildings, are part of our heritage, for villagers and tourists.
Perhaps more state help would be welcome for upkeep, but they stand as testimony to faith and centuries of worship, and should be preserved. Jennifer Maynard
Wittersham, Kent
sir – As a churchwarden, I am responsible for two ancient churches (listed Grade I and Grade II*).
Our churches are wholly unsuitable for conversion to housing. They are too fragile to be put on a simple “care and maintenance” basis. The parish already has a vibrant village hall.
Is the state prepared to step in to conserve them as ancient monuments, as happens in France?
Jolyon Grey
Upper Swell, Gloucestershire