Ringing Forums

I don’t know whether anyone can really provide evidence that changes they have made enable them to be financially viable for the future but I do remember an article about a church I think in Cornwall which had significantly increased ‘visitors’ and donations by bringing in community activities ranging from ringing sessions to playgroups. I think it was part of the Save the Parish information but it might have been a Ringing World article.

There’s a discussion thread called The Road to Wigan’s Tears which goes into this topic a little bit and Simon Linford has provided some good information on categories of churches and what level of attendance / funding a church needs to achieve to survive.

I guess the St Clements Cambridge model uses ringing as a way to keep a church building open every day but this works for Cambridge as a city with lots of visitors and wouldn’t work in a rural village so it will depend on the exact location.
I remember being surprised in the article about the church in (I think) Cornwall that very few regular visitors were needed to justify keeping the church open and be considered a success.

My home tower church is considered a success because the church is hired out for recordings and filming and this brings in income despite a relatively small congregation but this works because it’s in London and with good acoustics so wouldn’t work everywhere.

I think I would start by looking at the equivalent community hall facilities in the local area and what happens there, if there is already a scout hut or Methodist hall or similar being used for yoga classes, music for toddlers, etc then the church has less chance of finding other users but if there’s a need for spaces which is not fulfilled then churches work well as food banks, libraries, cafes, music venues…

Maybe there are some useful ideas here: https://www.festivalchurches.org.uk/case-studies/
But I can’t find the article I was thinking of (sorry).

Was the Cornwall experience that @Lucy Chandhial refers to this one? … a webinar from the Truro Guild during COVID…
https://tdgr.org.uk/the-bradoc-experience-robert-pearce/

.. and the RW article is ….
https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/issueno/5749#page=10

..page 586 refers.

Yes! That’s the article I remember. Thank you.

Thank you so much for your comments, which I will pass on to the PCC tonight.
Any more comments would be gratefully received.
Best wishes, Barbara

I have been studying this for my Masters and looking at adaptive reuse of church buildings around the world, mostly where worship has finished but I have tried to find examples where worship is retained. There are actually relatively few examples of bringing in commercial complementary uses that help cover the costs of the church building though. There are a few that have put a post office or community shop into a vestry, but not many that have gone beyond just trying a cafe at the back of the nave.

The best example I have seen, which works in London but would probably not work everywhere, is the Sherriff Centre, https://thesherriffcentre.co.uk/ "The Sherriff Centre at St James’ Church is a not-for-profit organisation. We are a registered charity and have a trading subsidiary that operates our Post Office, the café, soft play plus events and private hire. Profits from our trading activities go to fund the work of our charity to provide services to the local community" Most of the churches with lots of other uses tend to be at the more evangelical end of the spectrum.

Looking at what Festival Churches have done is a good starting point as mentioned above. Festival Church status is giving churches a relatively short window of time (about 5 years) to reinvent themelves and bring in additional uses that will contribute financially (Festival Church status does not remove the church's financial obligation to the Diocese). Some are apparently making good progress.

not many that have gone beyond just trying a cafe at the back of the nave — Simon Linford

We have that, following recent restoration to make the space more suitable for community use. We also hire the church for a lot of concerts and other events.
Wokingham Methodist church also extended its buildings to form the Bradbury Centre, of which the church proper is just a part, and used for some events.
Adelaide Baptist church in Glasgow used to run a B&B in its buildings, which I used for many years, and other things. The B&B stopped several years ago but I don’t know why.

Of course, your question assumes acceptance of shrinking church congregations. However the Bradoc experience was about bringing people into the church. I have noticed that the eyes of the clergy here light up when you talk to them about attracting young people and families, and working with local schools. My own benefice of Alresford is currently raising funds to employ a part time youth worker, whilst at the same time exploring combining with a neighbouring benefice to ‘share resources’. A euphemism I believe for reducing the number of clergy, and some of the parish churches in the two benefices becoming festival churches.

We’re also exploring setting up a teaching centre similar to Mancroft/Cambridge at a church in Winchester and the PCC there are very enthusiastic about working with the local schools. I am currently being pressurised to do some tune-ringing with them in the lead up to this Christmas, even though installation of the tower bells is several years away.

Of course, tune ringing may be an anathema to those change ringers steeped in our Victorian culture, but our landlord is changing and we need to adapt too. Traditional services like Evensong are being replaced with Breakfast Church, Café Church, and Sunday afternoon teatime services.

We need to move with the times, work with our landlord, and invest our resources in people and those places where ringing can thrive, rather than just the hardware.

tune ringing may be an anathema to those change ringers steeped in our Victorian culture, — Roger Booth

Current ringing culture certainly inherits some features from the Victorians, notably service ringing and territorial societies, but that hardly applies to change ringing. The Victorians promoted it but it began a couple of centuries before them

Thank you all for your comments.

The church have decided to proceed towards hiring the building out to groups who wish an atmospheric venue. To make it suitable they will to do an awful lot of work, though. And I am not sure how many groups really will want it. Simon - thank you, I will pass on the info about the Sherriff Centre - it you have any more examples please do let me know.

We are determined, as Roger says, to be a place where ringing can thrive. Even though only a small village church, we are very committed - because it is ours. I know that the church appreciate that we bring people into the church community, even if not the worshipping community. We are looking forward to using the schools' resources.

I am getting fonder and fonder of the Victorian period :)

Best wishes, Barbara