Rector’s Reflections
Tuesday 13th February 2024
The Future of our Church Buildings
I wonder: have you ever thought about the future of our church buildings? We are blessed with so many church buildings, most of which are of considerable historical, cultural and spiritual significance. But buildings need to be looked after, and this involves money and people, both of which tend to be in short supply. Many congregations simply don’t have the resources to do the necessary repairs to their buildings. If we look at churches belonging to the Church of England, it is estimated that tackling the current backlog of repairs would cost approximately £1 Billion. This is merely the backlog of repairs. On top of this, there is the money that needs to be spent on repairs and maintenance on an annual basis: this has been estimated at £150 million.
Of course, some sources of funding are available. Some counties have specific charities which make grants towards to the costs of repairs to historic places of worship, such as Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust, and there is a national charity called the National Churches Trust which also makes grants. Last year the National Churches Trust gave grants which came to a total of approximately £2 million. It sounds a lot of money, but considering that there are approximately 20,000 listed buildings in the UK, £2 million equates to an average of £100 per church.
But, you may well say, what of “Lottery funding”? This usually refers to grants made by the National Lottery Fund. Such grants are hard to obtain, and last year the National Lottery Fund gave only £11 million in total to churches across the country – an average of some £550 per listed church building. This is much better than nothing, but clearly hardly game-changing. Furthermore, the National Lottery Fund does not currently prioritise the preservation of heritage when considering which projects to fund. Their current focus relates to issues such as care for the environment and the levelling-up of deprived communities. Looking after church architecture simply for the benefit of future generations doesn’t cut it.
So our church buildings are facing a crisis. What might be done to meet this crisis and ensure that our buildings survive into the future? Various suggestions have been made, and we’ll look at these in the days ahead.