Church: What is it good for? The building

Continuing on a theme (this is number five in the series) that came out of the response of those around me regarding Church and where the response has sounded a lot like the Whitfield and Strong song ‘War’ for the answer has been: “Absolutely nothing!”, we continue with their assessment that Church is a 'damaged place'. This is an interesting response and I really had to press to understand what the people in front of me meant. But their response sound become obviously one of two parts.

The first half focussed on the building and how 'churches always have their begging bowls out' whilst the second looked at the people - those were coming, those who had been part once, and those who had been damaged by it ('it' meaning generally the local expression of the whole).

The Building
So often people have asked me why the 'church' thinks it has a right to ask them for money so they can maintain their fine historic (ours is late Elizabethan). You know the building I mean, it's the one they never go into - and wouldn't even if they dead because they'd go to the Crem'.

Courageously the person with the begging bowl continues unabated (or any more dismayed than they were before the person in front of them appeared) and tells them how they should contribute to maintain a special part of the village / town / city*. (delete or amend as necessary) and it's history. How Norman the Great or Harold the Conquered, Ethelred the wind passer (I know, I didn't do history!!) or some other long dead worthy prayed, slept or passed water there.

I had to applaud a chap who, upon being asked to help in the upkeep of the church building, asked whether the 'church' might be able to make a donation ('Alms for the poor' he called it) to his cricket club and their crumbling pavilion. "After all, he said, "We've had England and County players begin their journey from this village because of this club. How many saints have you given birth to?").

It’s a fair point made well!

The problem with so many of our church buildings is that they are are generally old, have building preservation orders on them, and being ‘listed’ means expensive repairs and handcuffs when it comes to updating and modifying.  Many of our buildings are pretty and architecturally valuable, contain great art in the windows, effigies, statuary, monuments, artwork and the like: But they are generally not fit for purpose.

What do we do with them, these architectural treasures? If we close them then this is perceived as concrete (and stone) evidence of the decline and demise of Church. The locals raise up and moan about the closure; which, considering the numbers who come, is a bit like a teatotaller complaining that the local pub is closing (one that does sell food of course). People tell me that the ancient church building in the centre of our town is, “Their church!” Yet they don't come into it, not even at Christmas and Easter. Some / many / a few, have never ever been across the threshold, and yet were it to close they’d be up in arms about it.

Close the building and have the church (don’t lose sight of the fact that its the people, not the building, that's called ‘church’) meet elsewhere and you’ll find some of the stale wart (sic) members refusing to come because (like the Sadducees of the Bible, it’s the building and not the person worshipped in it that is the focus of their passions. Move it into a home and the people would again complain. Everyone knows what they don’t like and yet rarely seem to know what belief demands.

Once church building I worked in was cold, unfriendly and pretty useless. The church council attempted to get permission to install heating, toilets, a kitchen and generally make the building supportive of the congregation’s needs.Sadly, the local Victorian society jumped up and complained that it would alter the ‘feel’ of the place, after all it was a Victorian building (one of the many build during the expansion and movement of the population out of the centre of London and in from the countryside as things industrial came together to create the suburbs).

The end result was that the church building remained as it was, people went to other newer and warmer, more comfortable, buildings and the Victorian society (many of whom had never visited the building ad probably never will) went  off happy that they had triumphed over modern evils.

The conundrum here is that the charm of so many buildings is the Saxon this and the Norman that, the Georgian wotsit and the Victorian thingy; all of which conspire to reflect the changes and the fingerprints of the past ages. But why should other generations not continue to make their mark and give ownership to other ages (the new Elizabethans for instance)?

Of course there are terrible abuses (and even damage) that can be made. Where.I am it seems that much of the valuable and historic was destroyed in the name of modernity. Th results are a wind tunnel, concrete structures and a generally unspectacular and unappealing sea of grey with a few treasures rising up from it.

But the buildings must change or they will fall into disuse and decay as the original inhabitants pop their clog or move away to other, more suitable places.

We (the Church) do make enough of our buildings an this results in the begging bowl mentality. We should be making God’s love known to people. We should be reaching out and doing the stuff! We must not forget our duty to be the ‘curators of a town’s memories’ but must also be free to keep the building made of bricks effective as a place for a church made of people.

At the end of the day (and I know some clergy and church treasurers and others will hate me for saying this) we don't want your money, we want your lives to be given to God. And the stones? All buildings will fall eventually, let’s build in heavenly places where they sand for ever.

Where your treasure is, there also will be found your heart. If your heart isn't in the church building or the worship of God - please stop handcuffing the Church because of your soppy sentimentality (and by the way, there was nothing at all romantic in the sinking of the Titanic. It was cold, wet and few stood at the front with their arms outstretched as Celine Dion sang!).

And Church, please stop trying to manipulate and embarrass people into giving for our precious buildings, unless we are willing to contribute to the buildings of those outside our doors. there are times and needs which make it right, but learn to cut your cloth and find clever solutions to the needs rather than wheelbarrows of cash poorly spent.

Ooh, that might start a few fires :-)

Happy Thursday - we will do ‘broken people’ next ...

Pax