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!
The best way forward is for central government to re-examine the legislation surrounding assets of community value, provide extra financial support for parish councils committed to increasing community space and prevent church members from feeling forced to choose money from developers over viable proposals for use by local groups. After an arduous campaign to save our precious church building, we received robust support at local and national level. Not every village has been so lucky.
Bella Mansfield
Headcorn, Kent
• Even as a staunch advocate of conservation of our heritage buildings, I find myself unable to concur with Simon Jenkins’ conclusion that responsibility for the reuse of church buildings should fall to local authorities.
Aside from the fact that many councils are under enormous financial pressure as a result of chronic underfunding and increasing costs associated with discharging statutory obligations regarding adult social care and homelessness, it is difficult to justify prioritising retaining church buildings to the exclusion of other possible beneficiaries of the money.
Sanctifying the preservation of a church over, say, restoring a former mill or a closed department store, or investing in leisure provision or providing a food bank for hungry families, appears arbitrary at best.
For better or for worse, market forces create all kinds of undesirable outcomes, and it is in this context that we should be asking ourselves how best to allocate our scarce resources, rather than on a cause-by-cause basis.
Richard Killip
London
• How refreshing to read an article that does not call for an unrealistic return to a (probably nonexistent) nostalgic golden past. The burden of caring for church buildings is impossible for those who worship in them. And if sensible attempts to make them more sustainable are made, these are so often stymied because the buildings are listed. As a now-retired but still active clergyman, I support the idea of local councils taking on the responsibility for the upkeep of church buildings and their imaginative development for community use. This would free up congregations and clergy to concentrate on the vital work of evangelism and pastoral care.
Rev Simon Boxall
Bridgnorth, Shropshire
• I wanted to bring to readers’ attention the imaginative transformation of the Victorian gothic St John’s church in Forton, Gosport, into a striking, spacious music recording studio. It’s website is worth a visit.
Roy Brammall
Gosport, Hampshire
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