St Helen's Bishopgate has a pretty young congregation, and (being right below The Shard) is convenient for travel.
our local chuches in this borough is majority of the silver variety as the main demographic.
St Helen's Bishopgate has a pretty young congregation, and (being right below The Shard) is convenient for travel.
Aye communism is great when your the squire lolDemocracy. A highly overrated concept. More and more people retire to rural areas especially from London. Some aren’t that bright. Some don’t understand, but doesn’t stop them getting voted on by one another. They struggle to understand finances and practical matters and follow the rules from on high to the letter which means nothing gets done but it costs a lot. It was actually better when the squire ran the job and just said how it would be. He paid for most things anyway. Now he is sidelined or has to sit and listen to a lecture from Mrs Aldridge from Luton on how we should all be knitting for Syria or something.
our local chuches in this borough is majority of the silver variety as the main demographic.
At one point Lincoln Cathedral actually had tills at the door. It really was offensive and I did actually use that quote.Matthew 21 v.12-13
“Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’
A church is a place of worship not a place of business.Jesus Christ. You lot can't half moan. Anyone got any thoughts on whether the suggestion in the OP would be relevant to their parish church ? Or, heaven forbid, anyone actually tempted to give it a go ?
Lack of funding? https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2020-05/33295_CofE_AR19.pdf
The CoE sits on £8.7 BILLION.
That is all.
What can you say? I really don’t know and am as confused as anybody. It would take about £500k to get our church back to a safe state. A wall is leaning out and a huge crack has opened up. The roof timbers aren’t very good and really need replacing. Ceiling coming down in sections already. It was built as a sort of folly from green sandstone in the 1700’s. The lower half of the tower is the only Norman bit. So it’s been hacked around big style really. In about 1900 the squire paid for a reinforced concrete floor half way up the tower to stabilise its structure.
So it’s £500k which we haven’t got to get it back to 18 th century standard , cold, damp and costing a fortune to heat. The only way is to apply for grant funding but as Christians can we honestly say that’s a good use of public money when there are so many other much more needier causes in the country? It’s a difficult dilemma. The building has exceeded its design life just as the one before it on the same site did. They weren’t frightened to demolish and renovate in 1750. Maybe we shouldn’t be frightened to do the same now. Build a new village hall across the road with a decent car park and good access, toilets the works. And leave the church and the cemetery alone. The roof will go in eventually maybe 30 years from now. We can keep it tidy as nature reclaims it. Leave it as monument or hope maybe an antiquities trust takes it on.
On the other hand if every household in the village contributed £10k we would have enough money to renovate it. That’s the reality of it. Fundraisers are no good. We have often ended up spending £1000 and seen it walk off the event site just to raise £1000. What’s needed is cold hard cash and lots of it if people really value the church as an asset to the village. I reckon my household and a fair few others would contribute that much. That’s the honest straight answer really. All the rest is just pissing about and procrastinating.
But then there is the annual quota we have to pay to Lincoln, for vicars salaries, vicarages, and their pensions. We can hardly pay it now and not sure it’s going to be possible long term.
Really it comes down to what people as a community really value. If they want it to continue in its present form they are going to have to pay for it, big time.
Personally not really sure. I think I would contribute but in the light that it’s a worthy ancient monument and a focus for the community. Not sure it’s essential to the work of Christianity at all though. Don’t think it is actually.
Jesus Christ. You lot can't half moan. Anyone got any thoughts on whether the suggestion in the OP would be relevant to their parish church ? Or, heaven forbid, anyone actually tempted to give it a go ?
I think the new testament in an accessible style should be read by all. It's hardly a long read. And given its influence on the current and historical world....
A church is a place of worship not a place of business.
That's my opinion. Use of church property for other purposes is not a problem but i don't like the idea of churches being used for business as such I'm not keen of the little shops that most large churches have inside. Churches are part of our history and as such need to be looked after one way or the other.I have found a couple of examples of where a church is hosting a food market, there will be others. I see no reason why a church can't be a place of business for 3 hrs a week and a place of worship the other 165 hrs.
This thread has provided plenty of evidence that their days as a place of worship alone are numbered.
If the pitch fees provide income towards the upkeep that must be a positive ?