by Bijan Omrani, The Critic
Be the Church you want to see in the world
If you fancy passing a gloomy hour (more gloom, anyone?) you could do a lot worse than looking at the official C of E website of closed churches for sale (or here if you are north of the border, and here in Wales).
As I write, there are 42 closed churches for sale in England alone. Medieval, gothic, Victorian, listed, the heart of rural villages, the site of burials, memorials, fine art, landmarks in their own right, the houses of God and the gates of Heaven — all under the hammer, some a snip at £50k, all ready to be stripped out, hot tub where the font once was, tasteful breakfast bar instead of the altar. Why not put in a mezzanine so that you can lie in a king-size water bed on Sunday mornings and contemplate close-up the pretty colours of the stained glass windows, which were too complicated to replace?
Around 3,500 churches of all denominations have closed over the last 10 years, and a recent survey by the National Churches Trust suggests that another 2,000 might close by 2030. Bully for estate agents and property developers, less so for the practice of the faith that moulded the country over 1,400 years, the parishes which hold these ancient buildings as sites of memory, the resting places of their forbears, and gathering places for the living community.
But ah, you say, if only something could be done. If only someone could do something to stand against the steamroller of modernity. Who will stop this sacred and irreplaceable patrimony being flogged off by Foxtons for at best, luxury flats. Where are the saviours of the good, the beautiful and the true?