Rector’s Daily Reflections
Tuesday 20th February 2024
The Future of our Church Buildings
Yesterday, we looked at the idea that more should be done to increase the number of people visiting our churches, and the suggestion that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport should commission a national study into how to make more of the heritage of local churches. More can certainly be done to put churches “on the visitor map”. But how much more? Many churches already advertise themselves as a tourist attraction, and churches already attract a large number of visitors – according to a poll conducted in December 2023, more than 54% of UK adults had visited a church in the last year. Perhaps the issue is n’t so much the numbers of adults who visit our churches, but the quality of their experience when they do in fact visit: what if anything do we do to welcome our visitors?
At a minimum, we should at least allow our visitors to come into our buildings, and see them from the inside. In short, we need to do more to keep our buildings open. This is the fifth point in the report: “Church buildings need to be regularly open outside worship times to fulfil their potential in the life of communities, within the limit of what is right for the local area”. The report goes on to comment that if the church building cannot be open seven days a week, information should be available about how to obtain access.
But, you may say, this is all very well, but what about the risk of theft or vandalism? The report acknowledges this concern, and comments as follows: ” Sometimes churches are concerned that opening their building will lead to vandalism, theft or anti-social behaviour. Yet Ecclesiastical, the main insurer of Church of England churches, encourage them to be open. When asked whether churches should be kept locked at all times, their answer is no: knowing that a church is being used by visitors increases security by deterring thieves or vandals”.
Might it be possible to imagine a time when almost every church building was open for at least part of the day? Why not? Churches are places where people can encounter God, and such encounters are surely to be encouraged. What spiritual message is being given if the door is locked?