Historic Churches 2023

4 BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON H ISTOR I C CHURCHE S 30th ANNUAL ED ITION FUNDING CONSERVATION Luke March T HE PARISH church council which I attend in Wiltshire has many pressures. Everything from developing a mission plan to maintaining three heritage buildings and paying an increasing share of money to the diocese. For many churchgoers, just how we get the money to keep local church buildings open and in good repair is a bit of a mystery. Some may assume that the Church of England pays to look after parish churches and that the Vatican pays to look after Roman Catholic churches. Others may think the government foots the bill. The truth, however, is that in the United Kingdom it is up to church congregations themselves to find the money needed to pay for major repairs, for more routine maintenance and for the installation or updating of community facilities such as loos, kitchens or heating. With around 39,000 church buildings, each congregation in the UK will find its own way to raise the money they need, based around three main sources of funding: from the worshipping community itself; from philanthropic trusts and foundations; and when and where possible, from statutory heritage bodies and even government. For the purposes of this article, I will look in particular at the ways in which local historic churches are funded, excluding cathedrals. These are primarily churches, chapels and meeting houses that are listed as being of architectural significance by bodies such as Historic England or Historic Environment Scotland. There are around 20,000 of these in the United Kingdom, which is a very high percentage of all heritage buildings. The situation for unlisted places of worship is much harder with fewer sources of funding available. That’s why in recent years, large numbers of unlisted churches have closed, often in inner city areas where local people do not have the resources themselves to find the half million pounds or so needed to pay for a major roof repair. Interestingly, although many will have been converted for other uses or even demolished, some of these buildings are now used by other faiths or by newer Evangelical or Pentecostal Christian denominations. ‘Charity begins at home’ was popularised in the 17th century by Thomas Fuller, a British clergyman and historian, although he didn’t mean that we should only help those near to us. His full text states, ‘Charity begins at home, but should not end there’. It’s a maxim that is certainly true when it comes to the funding of church buildings. When something needs to be fixed in a church, the congregation is the first port of call for the repair committee fundraisers. For the Church of England, figures for 2021 show that parishes spent £167 million on buildings and works. A considerable proportion of this will have come directly from worshippers or local people, although this will vary depending on the wealth of parishioners. This can come from reserves, which are often topped up by legacies from generous parishioners – with the widow’s pound being as important as the businessman’s five figure donation – and of course the rich variety of local fundraising from sponsored bike rides to book sales. One of the most unusual ways of raising money I have heard about was an RAF pilot flying his own two seater plane The first priority for any programme of funding is keeping the rain out (Photo: National Churches Trust)