PARISH CHURCHES? how do we keep our - Ecclesiological Society

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15 1. Introduction Purpose of this report Recently the Economist ran a short piece, ‘Tithing trouble’ (8 Nov 2003), on the Church of England (CoE). It pointed out that, during the last ten years, Sunday attendance at CoE churches fell by about 17%, and the number of clergy dropped by a similar amount. Yet the number of church buildings fell by less than 2%. Thus fewer people are supporting the same number of church buildings. A more anecdotal piece in the Financial Times, ‘Church changes but the churches stay’ (29 Nov 2003), explored what this meant in a rural setting. The author described how a number of magni#cent churches, their towers dominant in the West Country landscape, were being cared for by small congregations. He took the view that this was not sustainable in the longer term: the government should step in. These articles are serious journalism, yet the picture they paint is impressionistic, based necessarily on limited evidence. I say ‘necessarily’, because there has not been, so far as I know, any recent attempt to collect together the key facts and #gures regarding the upkeep of parish church buildings. That is the purpose of this paper. It is intended to be factual and objective, and not to promote a particular point of view, except for the underlying assumption that many church buildings are of intrinsic value. It is not my intention to make recommendations: rather to contribute to a debate. The views expressed are my own, and should not be taken as representative of those of of#cers or members of the Ecclesiological Society. Scope For practical reasons, the report is limited to Anglican churches in England. It rules out larger church buildings, such as abbeys and cathedrals. It also excludes places of worship of other denominations. I have used the word ‘church’ to mean ‘Anglican parish church, parochial chapel, mission church, etc. in England’, except in a very few places where I have made clear that it has a different meaning. Urban and rural churches Urban churches differ from rural ones, for example in typical size of congregation, role in the community, age and size of the church building, and average grade of listing. For various reasons, I found more detailed evidence about rural churches than urban ones. Unfortunately, this may give the impression that the former deserve more attention, when this is not the case. Corrections, comments and further information I actively welcome comments and corrections. These should be sent to me c/o the Ecclesiological Society either by email or by letter, using the addresses on the rear of the title page. I am particularly interested in any evidence which con$icts with that presented here, answers any of the questions I have raised, or introduces new aspects. Individual anecdotes are of less interest, unless they raise general issues. Corrections and new material will be published on the Society’s website, . The website also links directly to source material on the web, and it has background statistical data and graphs which there was not room to publish here. Acknowledgements I could not have pulled this paper together without the help of a large number of people, who gave generously of their time and expertise. For the most part, they are not mentioned by name, to avoid any confusion between the assistance they gave me privately and the public stance of their organisation. They know who they are: I hope they know how grateful I am. Needless to say, any errors which remain are my responsibility. I also acknowledge the kindness of those who allowed their work or publications to be extensively quoted, including various anonymous contributors, the Church Times, and Leslie Francis, Jeremy Martineau and Acora publishing, authors and publishers respectively of Rural Mission. I apologise if there has been any unintentional breach of copyright; if noti#ed, I will put the matter right in any future edition. The larger picture In preparing this article, I have been humbled by the struggle of those who every day have to balance pastoral needs with those of stone and mortar. I hope my somewhat cold-blooded focus on buildings will not lead anyone to suppose that I am ignorant of, or unconcerned by, the larger picture. Anonymous comments in boxes All anonymous comments are from different people, except in the case of two individuals, one appearing under the pseudonym of ‘A student of rural churches’, the other as ‘A frequent visitor to churches’, each of whose comments are split between two different boxes. Approximations and costs Figures in tables are rounded, where this makes it easier to see the overall pattern, so there will be rounding errors in some totals. The Building Index has been used to bring historical costs up to 2002 money. Sources Notes at the end of each section normally give short references only; fuller bibliographic detail will be found in the Bibliography. Where statistics are not referenced, they are from Church Statistics 2001, details of which will be found in the Bibliography.
16 2. Church buildings and their carers 2.1 The network of churches A large network The Church of England (CoE) possesses about 16,000 church buildings. This is one of the largest national networks in England (Table 2.1). These buildings are spread over about 13,000 parishes. There are more than 8,600 stipendiary parochial clergy. In recent years the number of other people licensed to take church services has risen to overtake this, and now stands at about 10,500. Many distribution networks of comparable size are shrinking to meet changing circumstances. For example, it is estimated that some 250 pubs close every year. 1 Rural post of#ces have also been shutting down, more than 600 during a recent two year period (2000–2002); to help safeguard their future, the government has now introduced a support package worth £150m per year. 2 National networks of churches are also facing pressures. For example, between 1990 and 2000, some 1,000 Methodist churches closed, with the decline greatest in city centres. As we discuss later, the CoE is also under strain, though it has shut only about 250 buildings over the last ten years (fewer than 2% of its buildings). In the same period, it opened about 70 new buildings, and planted about 200 new congregations. 3 Listed buildings Approximately 8,000 church buildings are medieval, and probably some 6,000 date from the nineteenth century. (Here, as throughout, I am referring to CoE buildings, unless stated otherwise.) More than 12,000 are listed (Table 2.2). This is far and away the largest estate of listed buildings in the country. The number of listed buildings maintained by English Heritage (EH) and the National Trust combined is probably fewer than one thousand. 4 More than 4,000 church buildings are Grade I listed, meaning that they are ‘of exceptional interest’ (see Table 2.2). This is about 45% of the country’s stock of buildings at this grade. A similar number are Grade II* (‘particularly important buildings of more than special interest’) and something under 4,000 are Grade II (‘special interest, warranting every effort to preserve them’). (There are a small number of churches listed at Grades A, B, C,an older version of the listing system, which I have included with the more modern grades in the table.) The percentage of listed churches probably understates the importance of church buildings. They often have local signi#cance over and above their historical and aesthetic quality, and in addition they are probably under-listed. 5 Who is responsible? It is easy to overlook two other remarkable facts. First, that church buildings are still in use for their original purpose. Secondly, this huge portfolio of listed buildings relies on the efforts of small, independent, groups of Table 2.1 Number of outlets of networks in the UK (1999) Approximate number of outlets Type of network in 1999 Pubs 41,800 Cash machines 28,200 Primary Schools 23,100 Post offices 18,000 Anglican churches 16,300 Banks and building societies 14,400 Petrol stations 13,700 General practitioners’ surgeries 11,000 Libraries 4,900 Police stations 2,000 Benefit agency and Job Centres 1,400 Hospitals with A&E facilities 250 Source: Counter Revolution (PIU Report, 2000) available from volunteers, in the form of church congregations, with formal responsibility lying with the Parochial Church Council (PCC). The upkeep of these listed buildings is thus in the hands of some 12,000 independent voluntary groups. No attempt at a diocesan strategy for church buildings will be fully effective unless parishes accede to it. Deciding to close a church In considering the future of church buildings, there are two factors which sometimes affect the behaviour of parishes and dioceses. First, parishes do not pay the salaries of their stipendiary clergy directly. Instead, they are asked to make an assessed contribution to a central fund Table 2.2 Estimated number of CoE church buildings of each grade of listing (2003) All figures rounded Grade Estimated number of church buildings at given grade number % % which these churches represent of all listed buildings (both secular and religious) I or A 4,200 26% 45% of 9,300 II* or B 4,200 26% 20% of 21,400 II or C 3,800 24% Not listed 4,000 24% Total 16,200 100% = 16,200 Source: first two columns, Appendix F (pro-rated up to allow for missing dioceses as described there); final column, listed buildings database (March 2004)
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