Deiknuo’s blog – the reflections of David Lewis

Are church buildings assets or millstones? That’s a question I’ve been prompted to ask because the subject has cropped up recently in conversations I’ve had with various people, and in a couple of news articles I’ve read today.

I’ve heard of a parish church reasonably local to me where the parishioners have been told that the parish can’t afford to heat the church over winter, and so please could they wrap up warm when they come to services. It seems to me that here is a church that is not going to give a particularly warm welcome, literally, over the Christmas period.

Then I was pointed to a news article where a couple who owned property next to their local church were being required, because of some ancient law, to cough up some £230,000 for the repair of the church building. I feel sorry for the church with buildings that require that amount spent on them to keep them serviceable. But it seems Draconian to require the church’s neighbours to foot the bill, all because of some law hundreds of years old.

I’m grateful, where I minister, that we have a great suite of modern premises, used extensively by the community. But having seen our heating bills rise astronomically over the past year or so, and after having to pay a large bill running into tens of thousands of pounds to repair part of our roof, there are some who are saying that the church building is in danger of becoming a millstone around our necks.

It’s great to have a place for worship, for church activities, and for the community to share in. But, looking to the future, we constantly need to be aware of what we saddle generations to come with. Our prosperity might become their ruin.