Churches should pay their way
ON READING an article by Nicola Gibbons printed 11 January concerning church repairs etc., I read the comments reportedly made by Dave Gorvel, who said the current system of management/repairs was appalling and claimed no business would survive if it was run as badly.
May I ask the gentleman why, after many years, has he suddenly arrived at the conclusion that savings of as much as 30/40% could be achieved doing this work, and is this discovery now being brought to the notice of the public at this particular time owing to the close attention being focused on the present way the Church of England has acted with regards to church funding in the past?
His comment that everybody wants the churches and rectories to be maintained is of course his opinion only and I certainly disagree with that statement. The main contenders for wanting these properties to be maintained in a good state of repair for their use free of charge is, of course, the extremely wealthy Church of England religious business, with assets of over £5bn.
If the impending draft legislation is passed later this year and should the churches etc., be owned by the parishioners, will representatives from the churches, which will no doubt be the Dean (the Rev. Mellor) or another CoE cleric, be allowed to interfere by having a seat/seats on the new board? If so, why?
It is surely common sense to realise this wealthy religious business does not need the amount of our churches they occupy in Guernsey, and they should be made to pay either rent or purchase the churches they need. The CoE needs Guernsey money more than the over-90% of our population needs religion.
Yes, I admit we need, if financially viable, to retain our heritage as much as possible, but our churches could and should be made to pay their way as, at present, the only winner financially is the wealthy Church of England, which has, over the years, saved itself millions of pounds in Guernsey.
There are many solutions to what could be done with our churches. I would suggest that, given the opportunity, other religions would be only too pleased to be able to purchase or rent church property over here, so please do not pander to one specific religious business, especially one which would appear not to want to use its own funds.
E. MAUGER,
Address withheld.
