Faith in the future

Welsh places of worship are facing a crisis. That, at least, is the feeling within the Welsh Places of Worship Forum.

The Forum brings together a range of organisations and individuals committed to securing a sustainable future for places of worship in Wales, whatever their faith or denomination.

To this end, it undertakes fact-finding exercises and gathers information to, first, understand the nature of the problem and then to seek ways to solve it. It also acts as a reservoir of resources that exist to provide advice and potential sources of funding.

And there are plenty of both, as a recent meeting of the Forum in Swansea bore witness. Several of the big funders were present, ready to open their coffers to support projects that fit the criteria.

Or, rather, criterion. Speaker after speaker made it clear that sustainability = diversity; not of faith but of facilities. There are millions of pounds, and plenty of skills training and professional advice, available for schemes that embrace partnerships between churches and the communities they serve, especially in rural areas.

Example followed example, from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Architectural Heritage Fund, the National Churches Trust, Planed and others, all aimed at putting churches at the heart of community regeneration.

And the potential solutions are varied. The question to be asked, according to Adam Hitchings of the Architectural Heritage Fund is: “What can the building best deliver?”, whether it is a church, a hall or even a school. As one contributor observed, the church, the hall or the former school is often the only community building in the neighbourhood.

One prominent suggestion was that churches facing closure should look to persuade their community to buy the building and then work in partnership to deliver the facilities they need, such as social housing, that encourages young people to remain in their localities

Alternatively, churches can re-order their space to combine worship with other community-led options that could provide skills training and wellbeing support or opportunities for start-up enterprises to find affordable space. Such initiatives could help generate the local economy and also become an income stream for cash-strapped congregations – and help them secure their future.

Overall, the consensus was that if you have an good idea, and the will to see it through, the funding to do it can be found. And no matter which organisation it is, they would love to hear from you.