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.

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.

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.