“Woman dances on holiday”, “Man moves portrait”, “former Ministers blame 8-week-old government”

A quiet week to end the “silly season” as we patiently await the announcement of the Second Church Estates Commissioner…

Update: On Monday 2 September 2024, the Church Times tweeted: “The new Second Church Estates Commissioner is to be announced in the coming weeks, after the longest wait since the office was established in 1948”. Apparently the name has been known internally since mid-July. 

Restrictive covenants on closed places of worship

The former St John’s Church in Hanley, which is Grade II-listed, was closed and had not been used as a church since the 1980s. The Diocese of Lichfield sold the building in 2009, and it was turned into an antiques centre and café. The deed of sale included a restrictive covenant preventing it from being used as a place of worship for any other religion.

The building has recently been purchased by the Zamir Foundation, which plans to turn it into a multi-purpose centre including a museum, a multi-faith library, a women-only gym – and a mosque. Stoke-on-Trent City Council has approved a planning application for the change of use, but the Church of England points out that the restrictive covenant prevents it from being used as a place of worship for any other religion without a deed of variation, regardless of planning consent for the change. According to a report by StokeonTrentLive, a spokesperson for the Church Commissioners for England has said:

“The Church Commissioners is aware that planning permission has been granted for changes to St John’s Hanley. We support former churches being used for community purposes, but a restrictive covenant prohibits the use of the building as a place of worship other than as a church, and the Commissioners have explained this to the owner.”

Filming in churches

As an unplanned segue to two posts this week on filming in churches, here and here, on 31 August the National Churches Trust tweeted:

“Churches offer some of the most magnificent architectural locations in the UK. It’s no wonder we see them in films and on TV shows. Explore churches that have been used as filming locations across the UK using our handy map“.

AD/CE?

The Catholic Herald reports a minor spat over the English translation of a July letter by Pope Francis on the role of literature on Christian formation in which “BC” was replaced by “BCE”: Before Common Era. The paragraph reads:

“This verse contains two quotations: one indirect, from the poet Epimenides (sixth century BCE), and the other direct, from the Phaenomena of the poet Aratus of Soli (third century BCE), who wrote of the constellations and the signs of good and bad weather.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, among those outraged is Ann Widdecombe, who is reported as saying, “If the Vatican is removing the name of Christ from official documentation it’s a complete betrayal”.

(Full disclosure, for what it’s worth: Frank always uses “BCE” and “CE”.)

“Who giveth this woman…”

The Guardian reports an unexpected liturgical row in the Church of Sweden. It has never been the practice for the father of the bride to “give” his daughter to be married, and the tradition is for the bride and groom to walk down the aisle together rather than the bride being accompanied by her father. Apparently, however, more Swedish women are requesting to be “handed over” by their fathers, possibly influenced by seeing it done in films and on television.

Currently, the decision over whether a bride can walk down the aisle with her father is left to individual clergy. Some are so annoyed by the practice, however, that Sara Waldenfors, a parish priest in Nylöse, Gothenburg, has lodged a motion for the next meeting of Kyrkomôtet, the Church of Sweden’s Synod, to ban it.

Updated: 2 September 2024, 17:47.