In his foreword to this recent report, the Bishop of London states that “buildings owned by faith communities are often places that serve a wider community than that of the regular worshippers….The parish churches of England, however, offer special opportunities because of their distinct legal position”.

The report was produced by a working group of government officials in conjunction with representatives of the Church of England and recognises our special role to play in working out strategies between government agencies and faith communities. In particular there is recognition of the heritage and costs of the 16,000 buildings, including the valuable community resource.

It is clear from the report that there is no new pot of gold from the Treasury for maintenance of buildings, but a range of funding sources has been identified that may be appropriate for the physical alteration and modification of faith buildings to ensure they are fit for community use.

There is some recognition of the frustration of approaching national and regional bodies for assistance with maintenance and development costs even when, for example, the value to the nation is much greater than the grant they may be giving. Action to be taken includes addressing any “squeamishness” which funding providers might have in allocating funds to faith groups.

I know from the experience of seeing all the case papers which come to monthly meetings of the Church Buildings Council, which incidentally are only for those highly-listed buildings referred by Chancellors and Diocesan Advisory Committees, that there is a huge backlog of projects waiting for funding.

Those who may be interested in such development funds would do well to obtain this report from their Diocesan Office or download it from the Church of England website. We should recognise the hard work put in by members of the Archbishops’ Council and, in particular, I suspect, +Richard Chartres, Anne Sloman and Becky Payne, for meeting those “across the road”.

Roy Thompson