We must restore local churches to local people

Parish churches may still be physically the centre of communities, but their redundancy as places of worship is becoming a national crisis. Simon Jenkins proffers solutions to the nation's greatest conservation challenge, including deconsecration and looking to European models

- Simon Jenkins

THOUSANDS of England's most ancient and prominent historic buildings are now standing empty and unused all or almost all of the time. By law, they cannot be demolished, nor do most people want them demolished. Redundant churches are by far the nation's greatest conservation challenge. They form the visual focus to almost every English village and town, high street and market place. Their towers are the signatures in the surrounding countryside. They are infinitely precious.

Fewer than half of Britons now call themselves Christian of any denomination, with only 12% professing loyalty to the Church of England, a fall from 40% in 1983. More critical is that few even of these members are going to church. Church House statistics show regular church attendance at barely 2% of the community or well under a million people, a decline of some 30% since the turn of the 21st century. Early indications show the pandemic may have led to a further 20% fall-more people in England worship regularly in mosques than in parish churches.

The implication of this decline in church-building use cannot be ignored. The Inge report in 2015 estimated that some 2,000 churches had fewer than 10 regular or occasional worshippers. This number has reportedly doubled. Of Lincolnshire's 615 churches, 174 are apparently used only as occasional 'festival churches'. An extraordinary 900 churches are on Historic England's Heritage at Risk register, their custodianship an ever more severe strain on overstretched clergy. Of those still in use, thousands need support from outside their parish in addition to paying for their clergy. Their upkeep can be crippling, repairs requiring urgent fundraising. The average cost of repair was put by Inge at £10,000 a year, this in addition to the 'parish share' churches must pay for clergy salaries and diocesan expenses.