PCCs and church communities across Wigan are discussing proposals to release a number of buildings from church use. The proposals which have been set before local parochial church councils (PCCs) have been made following a long period of deliberation by a team of local people.
In a nine-month review of options, 31 church buildings in the area were carefully appraised looking at the state and quality of the building, its future ability to serve our communities and contribute to the mission of the church, and ongoing sustainability. These assessments were compiled in a document called the Right Buildings Recommendations Report to aid decision-making on which buildings to retain and which should sensibly be released for other uses.
The process – known by the church as the Right Buildings Review – was commissioned by the Joint Council and Parochial Church Councils (PCCs) that make up the governance of Church Wigan. They agreed that a fair and robust review of all buildings, not just the obviously vulnerable ones, was needed.
The 13-strong team of local people – supported by a professional surveyor – carried out a technical and community visit to each building in an objective process working with a common set of assessment questions. They have set out recommendations to PCCs which look at what buildings should be retained by Church Wigan and which should be released for other use. They also assessed some buildings may need special attention if they are to be retained while others may need a greater feasibility survey.
The need comes from the changing nature of the church’s ministry now and in the future. We need church buildings that can support clergy and congregations in their ministry and outreach to the community. Our assessments show this is increasingly about having flexible places for meeting, preparing and sharing food, as well as being places where people can pray, worship and be with God. We also know that clergy and lay leaders want to focus on people and devote their time and energy to supporting the people in the communities they are called to.
With about £1m per year spent on maintaining church buildings in the Wigan area, we have to face the reality that we cannot afford to invest in them all and therefore the recommendations set out the action we need to diligently take now to make sure we have the right buildings to serve church and community. The recommendations have been received by church councils and will be discussed with congregations and others in October and November.
Church Wigan will then look to submit a formal proposal to the Bishop of Liverpool surrounding all church buildings in 2024. Once that proposal is received there will be formal consultation as set out by the Church of England for the closure of church buildings.
The release of a church building does not mean the closure of the local worshipping community in that area. As has already happened elsewhere in Church Wigan, congregations will still be active in worship and serving their neighbourhoods.
Like any wise organisation, we need to steward well the gifts we’ve been given. Our church buildings are a gift from previous generations which still have a deep significance for many people. Yet they must also meet the practical needs of our communities today which are different and sometimes require expensive adaptations. Making decisions about church buildings is difficult, but we owe it to future generations to address this now. The reality is, that we cannot afford to maintain and invest in all our church buildings so we need a careful and respectful assessment of buildings and a discussion with church congregations, neighbours and partners in due course, so that we may have the right buildings for the future.
The need comes from the changing nature of the church’s ministry now and in the future. We need church buildings that can support clergy and congregations in the ministry that is needed today. When our churches were built, the priority was on creating a space for use in divine worship. We still need this, but as traditional church going declines we are seeing significant need for church to serve communities (and especially its most vulnerable and the launch of our debt advice service is evidence of this. To do these things we need warm flexible places for meeting, preparing and sharing food, as well as being places where people can pray, worship and be with God. We already spend over £1 million each year just maintaining our church buildings and, when the necessary and expensive adaptations are added to this, you can see why we cannot do this everywhere.
Another reason is the need to focus on people. Even with decreasing attendance, currently we support around 40 separate services on a Sunday across Church Wigan, requiring clergy, lay ministers and people to make the things happen that most take for granted. With far fewer clergy (in real terms levels have halved in the last 10 years) and ever more rigourous governance requirements to keep so many buildings open, the demand on the few is great – the church is ‘stretched too thinly.’
It is important to remember that, while many people think of the building when they hear the word church, the church is actually the people called by God to worship and love their neighbours. Even if a building must close, we want our churches – worshipping communities – to continue serving locally. In Marsh Green and Bryn we already have examples of churches continuing to make a positive difference even without their own building.
If a church building is closed the Diocese of Liverpool will follow the established processes of the Church of England and the requirements of the Charities Act to dispose of the property. This may include the sale of buildings or land or the conversation of buildings into alternate use. The method chosen will depend on a number of factors including whether the building is consecrated, its location and value and whether we can use it to offer other benefits to the community – for example, low cost housing. Any proceeds the Diocese makes from a sale are invested back into local mission and ministry.
Read the Right Buildings Newsletter here
So far PCCs have identified 4 buildings that likely should be released:
• St Anne Beech Hill
• St Catharine Scholes
• St John the Baptist New Springs
• The Good Shepherd Bamfurlong
Of course, we are discussing how the church communities and activities can continue in those neighbourhoods.
15 buildings are being further reviewed, however we will not be able to afford to retain all:
• St Andrew Springfield
• All Saints Hindley
• St John the Evangelist Abram
• St Peter Hindley
• St James w. St Elizabeth Bickershaw
• St David Haigh
• St Luke Orrell
• St John the Divine Pemberton
• St Barnabas Marsh Green
• St Luke Stubshaw Cross
• Holy Trinity Downall Green
• St George Wigan
• All Saints Wigan
• St Matthew Highfield
• St Paul Goose Green
Hear Canon Neil Cook talk about this on Radio Manchester
Starts at 1:10