Bishop welcomes English Heritage Inspired! - “A capacity building campaign”

NEWS from the Church of England  

The Bishop of London, Dr Richard Chartres, has welcomed Inspired!, the English Heritage five point plan to assist historic places of worship. The plan was launched today (10/05/06) at St Mary Magdalene Paddington by Simon Thurley, CEO English Heritage and the Bishop of London.  

Speaking at the event, the Bishop stated:

“This has been a valuable exercise providing confirmation of the current picture while acknowledging the huge achievements by congregations and volunteers throughout the country.  In many ways, it is a success story but the question for the Church of England, with 13,000 listed buildings, is whether it is sustainable.

“The places where churches are vulnerable include obvious candidates like rural Norfolk but, more surprisingly, some centrally located churches are also at risk. 

“The funds being requested are very modest but Inspired! has set out some important principles.  There is no need for any new bureaucracy to administer these funds, rather the theme is capacity building amongst those already caring for the churches. This distribution of funds through networks on the ground is an important principle and is a key part of this stitch in time approach. 

“We also welcome the proposals to re-examine the Grade 1 category.  If we can define more clearly what it is in the case of each church that is worth preserving, then there will be greater flexibility in providing additional facilities which are needed to ensure churches serve communities in the 21st century. 

“Heritage, however, is only one way of looking at churches.  Churches deal so much in what is essential in our local communities, education, tourism and social regeneration, all adding much to the local economy. In looking to the long term, it is necessary to consolidate the help and expertise already being offered by heritage bodies and build up relationships with other funders based on renewed appreciation of the potential of churches, not only for worship and community memory, but also for regeneration in the wider sense.”