1 thought on “The Guardian view on funding heritage: save buildings if not beliefs”

  1. Thankyou very much for posting this. I am an avid believer in the preservation of church buildings alongside pastoral care for the members and surrounding community. The way i view it is this. That many of our churches particularly the older ones and some of the most recent ones, were designed and built and maintained with a real love and spirit to serve God and the people. I know there has been userping and greed and abuse too, but mostly churches are built with worship and care in mind. Most clergy will have had the experience of maintainable of a church, and all that goes with it, one of my i consider special memories when i was younger was sanding down the church pews in the gallery so they are still there. Fellowship is so much more than prayer and singing it’s about making a safe place for worship and utilising the gifts God gave us. Selling off churches in vast amounts is as much a mistake as charging the congregation to enter a place of worship that people preserved for free so people could freely worship. So as i see it if you save the buildings you keep the door open to saving the people. But please consider the real issue of a place to return to and to trace roots and follow the history of the many saints that went before, including those with family if indeed you really believe in the ressurection of the dead in terms of people’s spirits. It’s about more than the building. Do you remember the game we would play this is the church this is the steeple open the door and this is the people, it’s like that for some i know there is bad memories for others it is their roots we need roots

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