Take Me To Church

All Saints Church was founded in the 12th Century as a place of Christian worship a mile or so south along the River Derwent from Stamford Bridge, East Yorkshire, in a small hamlet called Low Catton. It's a stone's throw away from the site of a famous Viking and Saxon battle of 1066 which heralded the beginning of the end of the Viking age - where King Harold's forces defeated marauders and then needed to 'hot foot it' down to Hastings to take on the invasion of the Normans. It was a week of mixed fortunes for him and his team.

The Norman era heralded huge transformation for how the UK was run, with Christian churches playing a central role in communities and across the UK - a golden era of investment in church infrastructure was a priority. It is this parish inheritance which gives villages across the British Isles their unique character.

Small rural churches like All Saints have for centuries been part of the cycle of life: births, deaths and marriages and sanctuary for the communities for 800 years. Beyond their role as sacred spaces, they are hugely important historical assets which have relevance for future generations but the Church of England is managing an estate which is primarily made up of listed buildings, managed by volunteers.

My Connection

This is a really wonderful early project for me to get my teeth into: I'm fascinated about the transformational shift that's coming for local churches and rural communities. I am not someone who has an affiliation to a particular religion, but I was brought up in the Church of England school system and this is the rural place where I spent the majority of my childhood. As a history undergraduate I studied church history and politics in depth - I enjoyed the super high historical drama that runs through the the stories of these places. But I've always been struck by what the future role of these place and organisations will be - over 1million regular church attenders are active in the UK. But there are 27 million who identify as Christian by religion according to the last census. Donations to churches are strong and robust. No matter who we are, a church is something we will engage with at some point in our life. Whether they know it or not, our communities are inheritors of this rich history and ritual.

Preserving Historic Places

Our historic churches are home to some remarkable hidden historic artefacts and in the case of All Saints, it is home to a stunning William Morris & Company stained glass window based on the drawings of one of the last Pre-Raphelites, Edward Burne Jones (and restored with a grant from English Heritage in 2011).

These sites are often hidden but they are all around us - sometimes remote and sometimes off the beaten track. In 2018 All Saints Church, along with a group of other remote rural churches, was subject to raids by a criminal gang who stole part of the lead roof. Lead is easy to 'half inch' - the National Crime Agency recently reported that 20 tonnes could net criminals £25,000 in trade in. This is part of a wave of rural crime which has blighted communities for over a decade.

This time, justice was done: the criminal gang was found guilty and sentenced to weighty sentences which was a relief for the volunteers but left them trying to raise the funds in and out of two lock downs.

Working with a small group of committed volunteers (Zoe and Pat pictured below), we have been supporting the development of trust and foundation applications to support refurbishment work to extend lead replacement to other areas. This work is urgent but the volunteer team has struggled to balance fundraising and management of the capital development against dwindling volunteers and running of the church operations on a day to day basis. The fundraising has been a challenge which is where we come in.

Fast Facts On Historic Churches

There's some really interesting insight which is helpful context to this project and some strong opportunities for the Church of England and local churches to seize on these.

What Next?

We are taking forward a co-ordinated plan co-developed with volunteers to engage and energise fundraising for this important historical asset, replacing the current roof so we can ensure it's preservation for the next 100 years. Yes the are Bats in the Belfry ....

There's some project management working with suppliers, architects, governance sign off and then the doing of fundraising - we need a good six figure investment with 30% already committed, some from major trust funders. Again here I can't emphasise enough how the craft of fundraising is one of the most important skills set required for volunteer led organisations to deliver change and capital transformation. And many volunteers do this on the side of their desk.

But this very 'place based' project' spotlights the ongoing future challenge we face in our communities - particularly in rural settings - which is about the role of humans in the future running of these buildings and historic assets. How do our communities engage with churches and will this change again, how will churches as spaces be reimagined for future use given their historical and sacred relevance and how can communities work together to ensure their preservation as new generations come through as stewards and guardians? That's the most striking aspect of this project for me: when we replace the roof, what will this look like in another 100 years and how do we work to maximise their impact and value more broadly as we build connected communities.

I hope you will enjoy going on this journey with me as we explore some of the challenges of opportunities for historic churches and their future.

Please sign up to the email list or follow us on Instagram to find out more about our upcoming online summits on Social Good challenges - including a deeper jump into fundraising for sacred spaces and heritage and on this I will be hosting an event in early September and it would be great for you to join me.

Disclaimer: this article was written by a human.