Simon Jenkins is right that the decline in church attendance is a serious threat to the English church buildings and traditions that we hold dear (The Church of England is panicking about declining congregations – here’s what it should do instead, 24 October). Rather than lose these valuable places of congregation, many local groups have applied for them to become assets of community value and buy them to use as community hubs. But local councils are often blocked from doing this by legal actions brought by churches themselves.
Church members, in turn, often believe that they are bound by charity law to get the best price and that this entails selling buildings off for housing. In our village, residents came together to buy the former Methodist church and turn it into a community hub. This now welcomes over 200 people a week for a range of clubs and societies, and feeds 60 families a week on a Sunday. The church part has been preserved and made into a magnificent concert hall – with a restored pipe organ!
