New wine in old church buildings
By Alex Klaushofer, Guardian
All over the country small churches are growing while the large buildings that once housed them decay
This week saw the publication of the first national survey of England's places of worship. The English Heritage survey, which documents the state of 14,500 church buildings from Gothic Anglican confections to nonconformist chapels and Quaker meeting houses, finds that less than half are in fair or good condition, while ten per cent are at risk of dereliction.
At first sight, the findings provide yet more evidence of the ongoing decline of Britain's religious life, another strand of the familiar, gloomy tale in which dwindling congregations are increasingly struggling to find the funds to maintain their sacred places.
But while heritage campaigners understandably lament the demise of beautiful, historic buildings, an emerging form of religious life beyond buildings tells a rather different story. This is a tale of change and transformation – one which necessarily involves a degree of pain and loss – out of which church communities are forging a different relationship to the bricks and mortar which traditionally lie at the heart of Christianity in Britain.
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