Parishioners not happy with cost of rectory repairs
Friday 27th May 2011, 2:29PM BST.
THE £12,669 needed to repair the St Sampson’s rectory chimneys was almost rejected by parishioners at last night’s parish meeting.
There has been controversy over the years about parish residents having to pay for the upkeep of the rectory, which is estimated to be worth £1.3m.
With a damp problem in one of the rooms, a surveyor found the cause of this to be the chimney, so parishioners were asked to pay to repair both.
Several complaints were voiced about the extraordinary repairs.
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It’s bad enough having to suffer through a world bent on religion, but to be forced to pay their way is a mockery.
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we should sell the old rectory and build a more modern one with the money
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milton
Excellent idea for all the Parishes
If the present St Sampsons rectory is valued at 1.3M sell it and build or buy a more modern home at 500-600K and put the change in an account to cover future repairs
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Very poor, I shouldn’t have to chip in to this.To me it’s all nonesense, if you’re into it then you should pay for it. The vicar should sort his own house out, I have trouble seeing it as a real job.The house should be sold, the church should be paid for by the church.Why don’t the slack deputies pull their fingers out and sort ou thte rate review. 2005 or 6 they started, shameful.
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This one please :-)
“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
[2 Corinthians 9:7]
Although people seem to forget that parishioners could have rejected these payments – as was nearly the case on this occasion – I have much sympathy with those who are not churchgoers and yet find themselves having to pay for parish churches through their rates.
As a Christian I would resent my parish rates being used to upkeep the local mosque or Buddhist shrine – so to ask non-Christians to support my place of worship would be plain hypocrisy.
This situation is a throwback to the days where the church and state were closely intertwined – something that history shows is rarely a good thing as it often results in compromise and corruption – things Jesus strongly opposed.
That’s not to say I’m against Christians seeking office or influence in society – quite the contrary actually. What is does mean though is that the “institution” of the church should not wield undemocratic political power over the general population.
I actually find it quite distasteful that unbelievers are legally obliged to pay parish rates to upkeep places of Christian worship. For one thing it reinforces the stereotypical view of the church as greedy money-grabbers – a reputation that (although very often unfair) is sadly not without justification at times.
I believe that in order to counter this perception, the church should make every effort to ensure unbelievers are not under any pressure or obligation to pay any money towards the church.
Naturally if non-churchgoers wish to voluntarily donate to church upkeep then that’s fine. Also, if they use their parish church for a wedding or funeral then asking for a donation to cover costs is fair enough – although I do believe this too should be voluntary.
In general though, the principle should be that funding the church is the responsibility of the church congregation, as it was in New Testament times.
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Paul le Page
Any chance of you being co-opted onto the PERRC Committee which started their review in 2006
Is there ANYTHING a States Committee is given to do that doesn’t take years to complete?
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