20 C O N T E X T 1 4 2 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 5 and stipendiary and unpaid clergy so that they understand preventive maintenance, legislation and trustee responsibilities. •• Dioceses should consider church buildings as a portfolio of assets.Their significance, condition and ‘shop-front’ position, and maintenance, repair and general operational costs should form a key component in any pastoral strategy for a diocese, archdeaconry or deanery. •• The Church of England is hampered by a working culture that is inappropriate for the 21st century. Bureaucracy and parochial independence inhibit strategic management at high level but also frustrate efficiency in the parishes.5 Conversations with PoWSO colleagues elsewhere confirms that a similar situation is to be found across the country, with the greatest concentration of challenges to be found in the areas of former industrial prosperity. Worry about the problems of the church buildings has had a detrimental effect on numbers willing to volunteer for the office of churchwarden.Many parishes are operating with only one churchwarden or indeed none, and instead have a couple of wardens across a benefice (a number of parishes) with several church buildings. In the past there has been insufficient training for churchwardens, but with an increasing amount of secular legislation affecting both church buildings and church activities, coupled with fewer stipendiary clergy, this situation is changing as churchwardens and other authorised lay people take on the running of the parish churches. In addition to the recruitment and training of volunteers to lead worship and undertake pastoral ministry, there is an increasing need to recruit and train volunteers to undertake preventive maintenance and small DIY repairs on behalf of the PCC. There is a great deal of advice and guidance available to assist the volunteers in looking after their historic church buildings.The Church Buildings Council through its Churchcare website 6, the National Churches Trust (NCT)7 and SPAB (Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings) Faith in Maintenance (SPABFiM)8 provide a wealth of good advice and guidance through publications and websites. Many of the DACs publish advice and continually encourage the parochial clergy and volunteers to use the various sources of advice and guidance.With the support of a generous Heritage Lottery Fund grant, SPAB is currently piloting a Maintenance Cooperatives Project 9 to provide local practical hands-on training which can make use of the energies of community volunteers who are committed to the buildings but may be less interested in the worship activities of the church community. Many PCCs are beginning to realise that if they are to sustain the church buildings with which they have been entrusted they need to involve wider community in looking after them.The starting point for involving the wider community is the recognition and acknowledgement that parish churches are there for all the residents of the parish and are not the private premises of a private members club. Negotiating this mixed economy – a place for both committed worshippers and others who are not – does take some sensitivity and skill, but it is a hallmark of the Church of England to be there for everyone. Some congregations will need to change their attitude towards the ‘non-attending’ parishioners and also be prepared to unlock the doors of the buildings. In my experience, the chief difference between an accessible and a shut church is not its location or the value of its contents but the attitude of the vicar and churchwardens. A parish church is a church open to all. A church shut except for services is the private meeting house of a sect.10 Many PCCs benefit from the active support of friends schemes which raise funds for the building from a much wider constituency than the congregation and resident parishioners alone. The success of friends schemes depends on a good level of trust and the shared understanding that a parish church is a community References 5 Church Buildings: burden, blessing and an asset for mission, February 2015 www.lichfield.anglican. org/default/assets/ File/15_02_19%20 Church%20 Buildings%20 Blessing%20Burden%20 and%20a%20Asset%20 for%20Mission%20 FINAL.pdf 6 www.churchcare.co.uk/ 7www.nationalchurchestrust. org/ 8 www.spabfim.org.uk/ 9 www.spabmcp.org.uk/ 10 Simon Jenkins (1999) England’s Thousand Best Churches, Penguin, London Volunteers inspecting for insects during a SPAB Maintenance Co-operatives Project care and conservation of textiles training day (Photo: Sue Manson)
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