"Well, The Church of England is in a more extreme situation than most. It has a huge number of buildings to look after, a large proportion of them listed- ( given protected status due to their historical and archetectural importance), and often dating back to the 11th century or before. It also has many pensions to pay.

The congregations to support this are not large.

There are wealthy churches, but this is not one."

Is this the same church that owns, and collects the revenue from, huge quantities of land all over the British Isles, Bun?

It certainly isn't too forthcoming when it comes to repairing those old buildings.

About four years ago, the spire of St. Philip's church in Maidstone, Kent, was threatening to take over the crypt, and the C of E refused to pay towards the repairs necessary. The parishioners raised £100,000 in eighteen months (£3,000 of which was raised by Mudcatter Wildrover and myself, with a series of folk concerts), and the work was done.

This preserved the church, and an attached community centre used by over 600 local residents every week.

Those who raised the money did not receive so much as a thankyou from the C of E, which, as far as I can see, would have been happier to pull it down and sell the land for development.

If that is an example of their normal response, they can't be too badly off.

Don T.