A church made new
Take a careful look at the photo below. What, exactly, do you see? Obviously there are crisps and a drinks display cabinet, but what about the architecture? The chances are, it looks a little different to an average supermarket. A click on the picture below will reveal why.
CLICK for another view
When the former Methodist church opened as a supermarket in 2010, the tabloids were all over the story with headlines such as :
- Prophet exchanged for profit
- Some may say that shopping is the new religion
- Unholy conversion
Three years later, having read the stories at the time, I visited the shop whilst on a weekend away. I can’t deny that it was something of a shock to see the stained glass windows next to the cigarettes and the alcohol. To look in through the open main doors and see not pews but shelves brought me up short. Not only that, but the similarity of the building to my beloved Hertford Baptist Church, where I first started in ministry, made the impact even greater.That said, the work has been carried out in such a way that the building’s stonework, polished wood and stained glass are all allowed to shine.
So – is this sacrilege or sensitivity? Once the Methodist Church could no longer use the building, they had no control over the purpose to which it might be put by the new owners. Unlike other old churches, it has not been re-purposed as a night club, only open to some, nor a private residence open to none but its owners. Would God, I wonder, have been glorified by the needless demolition of a perfectly usable building? Maybe this is a moment when responsible earth-keeping must take precedence over religious sensibilities. I have grown to love many a church building – but perhaps it is possible to love them too much? Not only that, but when people see the view below whilst queuing to pay, maybe it gives them something to think about?
Would love to hear your comments on this…
Got my brain churning a bit – we keep saying take church where people are, and maybe the architecture will get people thinking as they go about their everyday tasks. I remember someone saying that church buildings can be an idol (problematic!) – love them when they are fully used for the community! Shame for reasons that the church closed, but maybe it is emerging in different forms…
Interesting post, Richard.
We have to remember firstly that the church is a group of people, not a building, however pretty the building may be. For whatever reason, the church moved on from this building: so it, and the land, should be put to good use. It looks like quite an attractive place from the interior, so why not keep it?
As to control of future use, it’s usual for the Methodist Church to impose restrictive covenants over the use of properties it sells. One Methodist building I’m very familiar with was sold along with covenants preventing its use for selling alcohol; for dancing etc. (e.g. a nightclub); for gambling; or for the practice of religion (presumably to prevent it becoming a temple etc. for a different religion). So, we can probably assume that the use to which it’s been put has at least the theoretical approval of the church.
My first reaction was “Ouch”. I think it poignantly reflects the change in what Sunday means to our society. I see the queues at Tesco on a Sunday at 10am on my way to church.
Be happy that the building is being used, the church obviously have no further use for it.
Is the church building really significant to those strong in faith? Or is it merely a distraction. I’m not a church goer, but have moved in such circles, and i think many see the ritual of attending a church as being strong in faith. Where in reality it’s often just habit. Jesus didn’t need a building!
Be Thankful that the building has been to some extent preserved and i would think that the foot fall through there in the last 3 yrs has probably been more than the congregation for the last 100 year. But if seeing whats left sparks something inside just one of those people then surely the church mission continues.
I remember going for a drink with some friends in Nottingham to a bar called, I think, ‘The Church’. It was tough – looking from the pews on the top level, you could see the DJ spinning records right where the altar should be. Easy to see who we worship now, I thought.
Harder to take were the stained glass windows with names of this former parish’s war dead. I began to think of all the baptisms, funerals and marriages that must have taken place in this place and I fell silent with my friends.
Of course, it’s not the developers, or the customers’ faults. The reason the building is out of use is because we have stopped using it as it is meant to be used. Use it or lose it.
Perhaps, as you have wondered, maybe someone will see those same windows and reflect.
I wonder if the imagery causes shoppers to stop and think about spirituality, God, church…