Dismay as council stops its grants for churches

Religious leaders who devote hours of their time to local projects were stunned when the council declared churches did not benefit the wider community.

Reporter Rachel Pegg talked to some of those affected and found out about the projects that might suffer because of the ban on funding.

THE DISTRICT council announced at the end of last month that it would not be giving any special grants to churches this year. The decision was taken, it said, because churches were considered of value to only a small number of people.

Cllr Graham Littleton said: "They don't benefit the wider community."

As might be expected, these remarks were greeted with disbelief among the religious community.

Ministers pointed out that churches were an integral part of village and town life and ran services for people of all ages, whatever their beliefs.

From toddler groups to lunch clubs for the elderly, churches and church halls provide venues for a host of community activities, often run by staff or church-going volunteers.

It is misguided to think of the church as irrelevant, said Farmhill Baptist Church minister Jim Baker, especially when more than 70 per cent of people still class themselves Christian, according to the recent census.

In the Stroud District the figure was 75 per cent, while 16 per cent said they had no religion.

Mr Baker said: "Our council seems woefully prejudiced and completely out of touch where churches are concerned. "The church remains an enormous force for good in the community."

John Hookins of Eastington Methodist Church agreed. His church runs coffee mornings, bring and buy sales, a quiz evening, youth and children's clubs.

He said: "Churches are the biggest provider of social and community projects after the government.

"Throughout history the church has been at the forefront of provision for the most needy and vulnerable people in society.

"The council should realise they will be denying the community the benefits of worthwhile social projects."

Anger over decision

CHURCHES were angry about the council's decision, said Kim Kerchal, chairman of the Stroud Council of Churches.

He said: "Even if people don't attend church, it has played a tremendous part in the history and culture of this country. "Christianity plays a vital role and will continue to do so."

The church needs funding to redevelop its buildings, he added. Attendance might be dropping because it cannot afford to do this.

Mr Kerchal warned that the country must not turn its back on its history.

He said: "If church buildings were not there, the culture would suffer."

* Stroud churches come together to worship every month. The next session is at Stroud Congregational Church on Sunday, March 30 at 6.30pm.

Not enough to go round

DISTRICT council spokesman Dave Marshall said the decision was taken because there were so many grant applications this year.

A total of £325,000 was requested from a pot of just £148,000. At a meeting on February 20 cabinet members decided how to allocate this rural and theme budget.

The money is given to organisations in the community and voluntary sector.

Though councillors did not directly give grants to churches, they gave £3,000 to youth Christian project The Door for an arts workshop and £1,200 to Stonehouse Methodist Hall for a refurbishment of its youth facility.

Many of the big grants were given to building projects, Mr Marshall said, instead of to churches.

He said: "The decision was taken simply because the council is so massively over-subscribed.

"However deserving churches may be, a church is not the same as a village hall.

"Noone here is saying churches are not desirable things to fund. "We are saying that if we do someone else will lose out. "It's very difficult."

Support in our troubled times

THE CHURCH is still popular, said Farmhill Baptist Church minister Jim Baker, and more people could turn to Christianity as a result of war in Iraq.

When things get difficult, he said, the population looks to religion for answers.

He said: "For the last 40 or 50 years we have had it easy with a high standard of living.

"But people are already saying, what's happening to our country?

"You can't walk down the street safely, we don't seem to be able to run anything properly and we have one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy.

"Things like that make people think hard.

"If we go to war with Iraq; if our financial systems crumble; if things start to fall apart, we are going to have to think again."

Mr Baker pointed out that Christianity is still widely supported in England and Wales with 70 per cent of people describing themselves as Christian in the 2001 census.

These might not be church-goers, he said, but it shows the population at large does feel an affinity with Christian ideals. "Lots of people have space for Christianity in a broad sense," he said, "even though they're not going to churches."

He added that the numbers of people attending church are still growing in one in five Anglican dioceses and in black majority churches.

Mr Baker suggested one reason why Christians might be overlooked is because they were traditionally modest.

He said: "None of us is going around blowing our own trumpet. "But we do believe that God loves people and you're supposed to share it.

"It expresses itself in many ways.

"There are a host of people involved with the community. "A recent Bristol University study found Christians were three and a half times more likely to do something helpful for those outside their immediate family.

"My concern is that the local authority doesn't seem to know what's going on."

There seemed to be hostility towards Christianity, he said.

"There is a general feeling that if you're anything but Christian you are worthy of respect, but if you are a Christian you are to be clamped down on in every way."

Community services run by Stroud churches and church-goers include:

* Brownie, girl guide and rainbow groups * Narcotics anonymous meetings * Lunch clubs and day centres for the elderly * Social action groups for the needy * Afterschool clubs * The Rosary Catholic primary school * St Roses special school * The Door youth project * Parent and toddler groups * The Salvation Army * Mental health groups * Listening Post counselling service