Churches need to be living organisms not just museums to the past

Churches are fascinating places to visit, sites of living history. There are some fantastic local churches, like St Marys and Christchurch in Wanstead. The church yard of St Marys is also a nature reserve, with log piles, bee hives and budding flowers. The often-ancient graves outside stretch right back to when the church was built in 1790. Inside, there are many epitaphs to Georgian and more recent times. The links to the slave trade were recently chronicled by historian Chris O’Donnell in his excellent talks. Chris highlighted how some had made money out of slavery, whilst others were actively involved in the campaign for abolition. I have found churches fascinating places to visit, with often hidden and not so hidden history. Take St Thomas Church in Winchelsea, which goes back to Norman times. The tombs of old knights adorn inside, however, outside is the grave of comic Spike Milligan, with those famous words (in gaelic) – “I told them I was ill.” The sad thing, though, is how many churches have effectively drifted into museum status. But it does not have to be this way. If more churches really live gospel values and open up to the local community, they can thrive once again as living parts of the community. Around 30 years ago, I was excited by life at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Wanstead. Following Live Aid, a group of us formed the Association for Relief in Crisis Areas, which undertook fundraising and awareness raising activities of poverty at home and abroad. We supported projects to supply water and electricity to a community on a barrio in Lima, Peru. There were other projects in Colombia, India and Kenya. The fundraising was done via a variety of activities from sponsored walk and runs to eat out nights, quizzes and discos (remember them). The work was raising awareness of social justice, as well as creating community in the church. The whole thing ran for about six years, before withering, largely due to lack of people coming forward to take the work on. Many churches today are doing great outreach work. They are at the forefront of the foodbanks network. Many are tackling the climate crisis head on, moving to sustainable energy sources and extending biodiversity in their own buildings and grounds. The work of St Marys and Christchurch, in terms of extending biodiversity in their grounds, springs to mind. But more can always be done. It is in the work of social justice that the church’s future lies. If young people find their church is actively involved in environmental and human rights issues they will stay and get involved. All will be invigorated. Churches need to revitalise themselves as genuinely integrated community hubs. The history and traditions of faith have a vital role to play in today and tomorrows world.