So well expressed... My personal struggle is with Church buildings/cathedrals... we forget Church is the people, Jesus' followers.
We so easily get distracted by "human creations". I get some were to glorify God... but these days buildings take up so many resources and time in terms of upkeep. I see it from J being a Church warden... I'd rather money be used to feed those in need than for "our comfort" or "tradition".
You are right, the church as the body of Christ is the people. However, I think the buildings devoted to worshipping God and glorifying him have value in a number of ways. As I have become more orthodox in my views, and perhaps more experienced in my faith, I have become increasingly convinced that we have thrown so much of value out with the bath water (so to speak). We can of course be church in any situation if necessary, and underground church may become necessary in the West before too long, but I can’t help feeling the loss of beautiful places of worship has coincided with the loss of reverence for God, an over-simplification of the gospel and a blurring of the lines between the church and the world (or perhaps more accurately, the world infiltrating the church).
I quite agree, but the trouble is, mediaeval cathedrals are very expensive to maintain and congregational tithes aren’t enough to sustain them. If you don’t have the entrance fees, you end up with more of the various secular “entrainments” which have caused such controversy of late. Somehow, they have to raise the funds. Charging tourists but keeping entrance free for those who wish to pray is one way of making ends meet: others might be even worse!
Yes, I do understand that is a real issue. However, I am sure there could be ways around that. For example, encouraging donations as many museums do, and perhaps running ‘friends of…’ supporter schemes to encourage those who value the cathedral to contribute. I don’t object to the guided tours and encouraging people into the building, but there are ways to do it without entrance fees. There is also plenty of scope for pruning the expenditure in the upper tiers of dioceses. Perhaps I could offer my services, like Elon Musk :-)
Such schemes - donations, friends groups - do indeed exist. I'd happily take your chainsaw to some of the diocesan posts, but diverting those savings to the maintenance of cathedrals might prove tricky. My instinct would also be to avoid any kind of compulsory payment for entry to any house of God. It is far from ideal. But happily, I am not the one who has to balance the books!
So well expressed... My personal struggle is with Church buildings/cathedrals... we forget Church is the people, Jesus' followers.
We so easily get distracted by "human creations". I get some were to glorify God... but these days buildings take up so many resources and time in terms of upkeep. I see it from J being a Church warden... I'd rather money be used to feed those in need than for "our comfort" or "tradition".
You are right, the church as the body of Christ is the people. However, I think the buildings devoted to worshipping God and glorifying him have value in a number of ways. As I have become more orthodox in my views, and perhaps more experienced in my faith, I have become increasingly convinced that we have thrown so much of value out with the bath water (so to speak). We can of course be church in any situation if necessary, and underground church may become necessary in the West before too long, but I can’t help feeling the loss of beautiful places of worship has coincided with the loss of reverence for God, an over-simplification of the gospel and a blurring of the lines between the church and the world (or perhaps more accurately, the world infiltrating the church).
I quite agree, but the trouble is, mediaeval cathedrals are very expensive to maintain and congregational tithes aren’t enough to sustain them. If you don’t have the entrance fees, you end up with more of the various secular “entrainments” which have caused such controversy of late. Somehow, they have to raise the funds. Charging tourists but keeping entrance free for those who wish to pray is one way of making ends meet: others might be even worse!
Yes, I do understand that is a real issue. However, I am sure there could be ways around that. For example, encouraging donations as many museums do, and perhaps running ‘friends of…’ supporter schemes to encourage those who value the cathedral to contribute. I don’t object to the guided tours and encouraging people into the building, but there are ways to do it without entrance fees. There is also plenty of scope for pruning the expenditure in the upper tiers of dioceses. Perhaps I could offer my services, like Elon Musk :-)
Such schemes - donations, friends groups - do indeed exist. I'd happily take your chainsaw to some of the diocesan posts, but diverting those savings to the maintenance of cathedrals might prove tricky. My instinct would also be to avoid any kind of compulsory payment for entry to any house of God. It is far from ideal. But happily, I am not the one who has to balance the books!