Locked churches
angloid
Shipmate
I started writing this as a contribution to the thread about Choral Evensong, but it seemed to have drifted into the topic of saying the divine office (choral or not) in the church building, and I further drifted to the question in the third paragraph below.
I have little experience of Choral evensong (not having had the charge of a parish with the resources to provide it), but we used to regularly say Evening Prayer in church on Sundays as well as weekdays. Bishop's Finger, on the other thread, makes good points about security and safeguarding, but that never seemed a problem 20 or so years ago when we did it. I think the fact that the church and vicarage were adjacent, and there were usually two or more people present, meant that we don't worry about it. I would be more concerned about an isolated church building perhaps surrounded by a creepy graveyard.
However this raises an important topic which has always troubled me. Traditionally church buildings (at least in Anglicanism) have been left unlocked, and served as a spiritual resource for anyone in need of space and solitude. The tendency to keep them locked outside of formal services, to my mind contradicts the Incarnation and reinforces a view of the Church as a members' club. And of course it raises the economic question which it is difficult to say yes to, 'is it worth maintaining a large building for a small group to use an hour or so once a week?' In retirement I no longer have to worry about things like insurance, but I understand that insurers can regard an open church as less of a security risk than a locked one.
I have little experience of Choral evensong (not having had the charge of a parish with the resources to provide it), but we used to regularly say Evening Prayer in church on Sundays as well as weekdays. Bishop's Finger, on the other thread, makes good points about security and safeguarding, but that never seemed a problem 20 or so years ago when we did it. I think the fact that the church and vicarage were adjacent, and there were usually two or more people present, meant that we don't worry about it. I would be more concerned about an isolated church building perhaps surrounded by a creepy graveyard.
However this raises an important topic which has always troubled me. Traditionally church buildings (at least in Anglicanism) have been left unlocked, and served as a spiritual resource for anyone in need of space and solitude. The tendency to keep them locked outside of formal services, to my mind contradicts the Incarnation and reinforces a view of the Church as a members' club. And of course it raises the economic question which it is difficult to say yes to, 'is it worth maintaining a large building for a small group to use an hour or so once a week?' In retirement I no longer have to worry about things like insurance, but I understand that insurers can regard an open church as less of a security risk than a locked one.
Comments
AIUI, insurance people prefer to have a church unlocked, as it apparently deters malefactors...
BTW, the vicarage next door is let to private tenants, FatherinCharge living in a modern house some way away,
Our church building is open during the day for visitors, every day, and closed for the night. We do have cctv which has been invaluable for evidence so that on the very few occasions when there has been pilfering or antisocial behaviour causing damage, the perpetrators have been found and challenged.
As I understand it, the insurance company sees it that the church valuables are safer when more people come through the church.
If people sheltered overnight in the church and caused damage or were hurt however the insurance would not pay out unless we paid a much higher premium- nor could we afford the additional cost of lighting etc.
One of my churches had no lock, and when we were ordered to lock them for Covid, we had to have one put on…..
Yes this is partly missional but the times are not solely determined by that, they are determined by when people will be around on the premises. We have a Community business that functions from the building attached and so when it is open the church can be open as well. Historically they did not open on a Saturday so it is open while the sacristans are in and Sunday times depend on people being around.
We are not a suburban church and I suspect somebody might consider somethings present of significant monetary value. That said the things that do get stolen are often silly e.g. nice sugar container (when I bought cheap plastic ones this stopped despite there still being sugar in them), tea towels also seem to go for walks periodically. We do get minor assaults happening about every six months on staff or volunteers, normally no charge and said person is banned. Normally drug or alcohol involved in such cases but most of the time they know that we are one of the safe places they can drop in and get a cup of coffee so they do not want to mess the place up. These cases are far out weighed by the positive stories, the people who come to faith through the ministry of the building, the people we meet in their hour of need and the number who come in just to pray.
Although there are houses close to the building none has sight lines into the churchyard around the building but we have very few thefts. We do occasionally find that someone has tracked down the instant coffee that the flower arrangers leave in a cupboard because there is usually a note left in a dirty mug saying "thank you".
As a PCC we take the view that the church belongs to the village, and there are people who never come to a service who regularly show up to churchyard working parties, and one couple who just come in once a month to dust and sweep before having a sandwich lunch near the grave of their daughter.
We leave out a visitors book and it is rare for a week to go by without someone dropping into the building and leaving a comment.
In part because the former emphasize some concept of the parish and therefore remaining open is a symbol of being available to all parishoners. I presume in this context by "Nonconformist conventicles" you mean nonconformist churches more generally.
You prefer to be secret and unlawful ?
Like @angloid I remember the days when daily offices were said in church and the buildings remained open during the day. I think it was the 70s when churches started being locked 🤔 Having said that the 'estate' parishes were often keepimg their buildings locked before that period. Evangelicals were inclined to lock up albeit not usually in the country.
I'm not sure Our Place could easily be kept open during daylight hours, apart from service times, as the priest lives some way away, and we have no verger or caretaker.
In addition, the adjacent Hall is used during the week by a pre-school Nursery (a secular company, so not church-run), and the Hall is physically connected to the church via a lobby. The Nursery occasionally go into the church (with permission!), as the prayerful atmosphere within the latter is known to have a calming effect on fractious children, and they usually have end-of-term gatherings/presentations with lots of parents/guardians present.
IOW, another safeguarding issue presents itself, if the church should be left open whilst being used by the Nursery. OK, in that case the church door should be closed and bolted, but that's the sort of thing that can easily get forgotten.
Sorry - I seem to be making excuses! I'd like to have the church open during the day, but I don't have a horse in this race now, and I doubt if the PCC would be willing to consider it. Even when FatherinCharge finally retires, we may still be able to have 2 or 3 weekday Masses (arrangements are already being made!), so the church will not be entirely locked up from Sunday to Sunday.
Unusually the Vicar’s vestry has no door. The PCC vetoed the suggestion of putting a door on, even after the theft of audio equipment.
That was brave of them - strictly speaking, it probably was illegal, but with only a small possibility of large crowds using the church at any one time there was little risk!
Interesting question. St James Piccadilly in London is the obvious example of where rough sleeping in the pews happens. It’s a bit disconcerting the first time you go to an 8am HC and there are *already* people snoring! Whether they’ve jumped through any hoops to facilitate that though I don’t know.
On the occasions I do it (usually when a churchwarden is on holiday) it can be a bit unnerving crawling round a medieval church in the dusk (looking behind curtains etc to ensure that no one is going to be inadvertently - or deliberately - locked in)
Out of interest, do you have a procedure written down that tells you where to look to ensure you're not locking anyone in?
We dare not have the church unlocked, to the point of having it locked when parishioners are in there doing the flowers/cleaning etc.
To get back to the OP (posting as Uniting Church in Australia, ie Reformed): At my last-but-one charge, in a country town, I moved the baptismal font to the entrance of the church during daylight hours, and ensured that there was water in it (so that folk of a Catholic persuasion would find a familiar element for blessing and crossing), and had a candle burning and others nearby to be lit for intercessions. I, or cong members, would be available in daylight hours for anyone to approach us, but we kept out of the way if we weren't approached.
My last shack, a fishing port, has/had (because I'm retired) a most desirable large conch shell as its font, and we couldn't risk that being pinched by sporting it at the entrance to the church. But we could still have a table with a bowl of water and some candles, and me or volunteers around to make sure that the church is open during daylight hours. And as before, we make ourselves at once scarce and available, as a visitor's demeanour indicates.
It is really not difficult.
The bell was ringing as they went up the street, and had ceased when they reached the church. No other worshippers were visible.
"This place needs a great upliftin'," said Para Handy piously. "On a day like this, with the things of time upset and shifted, ye would think they would be croodin' in to hear Mr M'Queen. Have ye any losengers?"
"Not wan!" said Dougie, "but maybe he'll no' be long."
The beadle was shutting the door of the church as they approached to enter. "Where are ye goin'?" he asked, with a curious look at them.
"Where would we be goin' but to hear my good frien', John M'Queen," said the Captain fervently.
"Then ye'll better come back at half-past eleven," said the beadle dryly. "This is no' the place for you at all; it's the Sunday School."
"Holy sailors!" exclaimed the Captain; "what o'clock iss't?"
"Exactly half-past nine by the summer time," said the beadle, "but it's only half-past eight by naiture."
The Captain looked at Dougie. "Aren't we," said he, "the fools to be leavin' nocks and watches to fellows like Sunny Jim and Macphail! The tricky duvvles! There's no' an inch o' a chentleman between them. It's no' wan oor but three they put us forrit, and they're still snore-snorin' yonder!"
No, it just struck me as daft not to, so I always do!
Being on the PCC I know the fabric well enough, and I’ve got a suspicious mind so beyond inadvertently not spotting someone because of lines of sight, I have given some thought about how *I’d* go about remaining unspotted if I was up to something…
All three, I think - although it has been observed that our Cathedral closes after 530pm Evensong on weekdays, just as the pubs and restaurants in the nearby High Street are beginning to open up!
The nightclubs take off a bit later, of course, but AFAIK the Cathedral is not opened at all during the evenings or nights. Some urban churches do open at these times, to act as a base for street pastors, and as a refuge for those needing space and quiet...
One of the brothers came and opened the door, welcomed me, and showed me on which side of the church - the men's side - to sit.
The Abbey gets many visitors and tourists, but the church is actually quite small, and services would be much disturbed by latecomers, or people just wandering about.
The church in the larger, even more touristy town is open daylight hours all year round. The visitors' book records comment after comment thanking us for keeping it open. Although I don't have a pedestrian counter installed I suspect 100-120 people a day meander in, look, pray, reflect, photograph, play the (grand) piano, even donate.
We have votive candles lit (at least when I'm around) in a sand trap, though two key players in the parish are determined to get rid of them, muttering about insurance. As a former firefighter I am adamant that the fire risk is no greater than it would be without the candles ... it would take a lot of effort and intent to burn the place down and a gas lighter in an' arsonist's pocket would be a better bet than a two hour candle. With about ten people an hour in the church chance would be rare anyway. Nothing is highly flammable, though with persuasion the altar frontals could perhaps be set alight.
I've always felt candles have a more "spiritual" element than Post It Notes To Jesus.
Crime is very low in either town. Probably the most valuable item in the church is an expensive microphone, and my request that that be removed fall on ears as deaf as mine when the candles are threatened.
I'm retiring soon. All this may change. It will break my heart if the church, right in a hugely visited tourist CBD, is locked.
(oh ... and when I lock it at night I cast a cursory eye over it, but it is "exitable," just not enterable).
Rough sleepers prefer the office verandah and church porches. To my sorrow I have a constant battle persuading the powers in the parish that they don't have to be booted out. They prefer to call the police. The police ignore it anyway, so I guess I "win" that argument! A gentleman who lets his dogs out on the grounds to poop gets less sympathy from me, but my expostulations with him somehow attract linguistic amnesia, and he's unable to comprehend.
Strangely his English improves when he returns to run his nearby restaurant.
Perhaps not warehouse/repurposed cinema megashacks, they'll be open anyway on some money-spinning venture or other.
We live in an age of "Spiritual but not religious" census returns. A welcoming (coffee machine out and switched on, capsules alongside?) but non-threatening and non-proselytising place gives room and time for - well, for anyone. A domestic or employment or financial crisis. A dread diagnosis, the visitor's or a visitor's loved one. Fearfulness for the world and for the future. Scripture tells us that even we old Christian hands don't know what to pray (Romans 8. Luke 11.) How to pray? Who/what to pray to? An open church is a space for inarticulate opening of hearts.
Nonsensical things said at the same time:
1 Ah, but there's no-one to make sure that the silver isn't being nicked. They're at work during the day. The priest/minister/pastor is visiting (as s/he should be, btw).
2 Our congregation is all retired.
Personal security is an issue, I understand. A plan beforehand, with the local bobbies in an urban setting, or a farmer or pub in a rural setting, can ensure that an alarm or text is responded to quickly.
I had an A-frame noticeboard on the pavement/sidewalk saying that the church was open for private prayer. And that nobody would disturb you, but that I/a volunteer could be found in the office (or side of the church, wherever.) As I posted earlier, I moved the font to the front of the church (which I think was its traditional position in very old churches) and had one candle burning and others available. From a regular congregation of 80 or so, there was no shortage of volunteers for a rota. This was a country town, so the odds were that a visitor would be known to me or (especially) a volunteer, and a volunteer would almost certainly know the back story!
From their website:
[We have] a Peace Garden where you are welcome to come and sit and reflect. We also have a Prayer Tree where we welcome people to add their prayers or blessings to the tree for others to read and reflect upon.
The church itself is only open for services on Sunday and Tuesday.
Yes, an excellent idea for churches with adequate and accessible grounds. (I mention "accessible", because our Garden of Remembrance (duplicatable as a peace garden) was inside our fence. Bit silly, but generations of the blessèd deceased were commemorated there, imagine how the *****ville Bulletin would have treated an attempt to make it accessible.
I am surprised that insurance companies prefer unlocked churches. Is this because they expect someone to be around as well? We would struggle to find people to do this.
We were broken in to once overnight and they removed the (very heavy) safe then abandoned it a couple of streets away having prized it open with something like a giant tin opener. There was nothing in it apart from the registers which they did not remove and a plate which wasn't really precious enough to be locked up. The following Sunday in the intercessions we prayed that they would visit us again but in a more conventional manner.