Simon Wethered
Simon Wethered from London discusses the power of churches as hubs of community and why he has decided to support the National Churches Trust by leaving us a gift in his Will.
“It is a tragedy of our materialist times that for the vast majority of a community at the centre of which lies a church that they have little or no interest in it or the mysterious goings-on within.
Reflect, though, on any local castle (or more likely to ruins of one). What is its statement? ‘I have power, I exert control, I want to keep what is mine (is that where ‘The Keep’ comes from?). Any lancets in its walls will be for shooting at people. A relatively few – think Alnwick or Arundel – continue to flourish due to personal wealth.
By contrast, many churches and cathedrals of similar antiquity not only survive but are in excellent condition. The breath-taking beauty of many speaks not of strength and power, but of vulnerability, invitation, of the success of noble aspirations in architectural form. These venerable community time-capsules harbour the story of a community going back centuries in many cases.
Expressed or unexpressed, it is this unique preciousness (supported by the regular quinquennials) which has encouraged generation after generation to care for a place made holy by the innumerable great events of life – baptisms, weddings, and funerals, as well as the regular services of Holy Communion – that have been celebrated there down the ages.
The underlying power that has made – and continues to make – all this possible is love: love of God in designing, building and maintaining the best of which human hands are capable, love of neighbour as expressed in all the memorials in and around the church building, and love of self in the constant renewal of the human spirit which flows from regular worship there of a loving Creator, Redeemer and Friend.