Drastic reform is the only way to save England’s churches
by Matthew Cooper, Appollo Magazine:
Are England’s historic churches too big to fail? The Church of England has 16,000 parish churches. Among them are nearly half of all Grade I listed buildings nationwide. Many are managed by small rural communities, and a significant number have fewer than 10 people to make up rare Sunday congregations. Year on year the most vulnerable churches creep closer towards dilapidation and redundancy.
Good news, then, that the Chancellor has announced the formation of a church buildings task force to look into the sustainability of England’s historic churches and cathedrals.
The initiative appears to be predominantly an Anglican concern, though other denominations will find the outcomes applicable. Red-blooded Anglicans are voracious for committee reports of any kind, but this stands out in two important respects. First, it is being announced and delivered by the government and not the Church itself. Second, it is explicitly concerned with the funding models that might be needed to prop up the maintenance of the country’s historic church buildings.
Both of these points are badly needed, particularly by parish churches, which are more numerous, more vulnerable, and more easily overlooked than the country’s cathedrals. The UK is the only major European government to absolve itself of direct involvement in the care of its historic churches. Some key grant programmes using public funds are accessible to churches, but these are often competitive and are far from automatic.
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