‘Important churches kept open'
THE Town Church will stay open for visitors, despite being abused and misused by a few individuals, as highlighted in a court case this week.
Dean Of Guernsey the Very Rev. Tim Barker said yesterday that there were no plans to restrict access to the church.
He was commenting after Thursday’s proceedings in the Magistrate’s Court in which a man was jailed for a month after he admitted defecating in the pulpit, before returning the next day and urinating against a pillar before going to sleep in a pew. The drunken man’s actions were captured on CCTV footage from within the building.
‘It is important to keep our church buildings open as much as we can, so that anyone who wishes to can visit our churches at reasonable times,’ Mr Barker said.
He said this was important for parishioners and for visitors to Guernsey.
‘There is a risk that our hospitality and welcome will be abused on rare occasions, and I was very sorry to see the way that Town Church was abused in the way that the Guernsey Press reported, following the Magistrate’s Court proceedings.
‘It is very disappointing when our wonderful volunteers are faced with such unpleasantries.’
The court was told how the church warden had discovered excrement in the pulpit while going about her normal duties and had had to clear it up with a bio-hazard kit.
It is understood that some members of the Town Church congregation are unhappy at the levels of access permitted to the church on a daily basis. The Guernsey Press has been told that similar incidents have happened before.
