The most comprehensive survey of Britain’s churches ever carried out has shown a “critical” number in desperate need of financial help.
Nearly 4,000 of the nation’s 47,000 churches ”” 8 per cent ”” are in poor or very poor condition, needing an average of £80,000 spending each for repairs and restoration.
The survey, to be published on Monday, has found that 1.6 million people take part in voluntary activities involving the Church, averaging out at 33 per church. The biggest area was community activities, followed by faith activities and then administration.
Of course.
This is the inevitable wages of liberalism, which always results in an exodus of ordinary pew-dwellers. It is those ordinary pew-dwellers who provide the income and voluntary work to maintain the churches.
Rowan Williams is merely the representative of a host of British liberal clergy who have hijacked the Church of England for their own fanatically liberal agenda, and in the process are driving out the faithful in their tens of thousands.
The government of the UK must also face repercussions over this. They have supported the liberal drive. Now, as the CofE descends into bankruptcy, the government will be called upon to help. And it will have no choice but to do so – church buildings are an essential part of the British tourism industry. The spectacular buildings (e.g. York Minster, Durham Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, St Pauls) also cost spectacular amounts to maintain. But there are many smaller churches as well which go to make up that charm of the British countryside. The British tourism industry is a huge money-spinner and it has ridden partly on the back of the churches for years. Now the time has come to pay the piper.