Lee Coley writes for Church Times

Stone King Partner Lee Coley examined routes to protecting churches in England, in the context of their community and national heritage significance, in a piece for Church Times.

Lee’s article highlights the funding challenges facing parishes, the consequent unaffordability of church repairs, as well as examining the different considerations in continuing the expansion of church building use to address this.

“Over the years, consistory courts have been asked whether proposed uses of buildings — for example, as post offices or pubs — are acceptable: are they both beneficial to communities, and aligned with the Church’s wider mission?” Lee said.

“Some dioceses have begun exploring apps, such as Sharesy, to advertise churches as venues for hire; parishes are finding significant demand from a broadening range of organisations.”

Lee also highlighted that understanding the importance to communities of churches as ‘mixed use hubs’ is crucial to communicating the value of potential government funding.

“To avoid the widespread loss of churches throughout the UK, the State would need to take responsibility for some of the maintenance costs of church buildings, akin to what was done in 1944 with education,” he added.

“Considering stretched government budgets, it is unlikely that this funding would be made available unless it was understood in the context of the enormous cost to communities if these “anchor institutions” are lost.”

Read the full piece here.