Churches are selling off their stained glass windows and organs to fund upkeep, a Church of England court has warned.
John Bullimore, chancellor of the Diocese of Derby, said that fears that churches would rip out valuable artefacts to raise money were well-founded.
Ruling on an application by All Saints Church, Findern, to remove a 150-year-old organ and install a kitchen and toilet, Mr Bullimore said he shared the concerns of the organ adviser that small churches would "sell off assets - furniture or fixtures and fittings - because they are ‘not really needed’, or the mission of the church locally is more important".
"I do not think this danger is altogether fanciful," he said, adding that he had previously heard a case where a church had sought to sell its stained glass windows to a Japanese firm "to adorn some building for rest, recreation and refreshment thousands of miles away".
The request had been turned down, he said, in part because it was "wrong in principle for churches to look round their interiors in times of need to see what ‘treasures’ they could dispose of as decorative items, whether they be unused pulpits or balconies, or pews or windows, or indeed anything else, that might find a ready sale, and raise some funds."
He added: "Such items are part of the heritage, and were probably first acquired in many cases as the result of many small and sacrificial gifts by a large number of parishioners and benefactors contributing to the costs of erecting and fitting out the church.
"So in my own limited experience, I think the danger is real."
However, he granted the church permission to remove the organ because its sale was "by no means a money-raising scheme" and the change would allow the church to install better facilities.
Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Easter 3 - "For it is the hour of true sorrow,
when I will be to you dead, with all the joy, comfort and assurance you had
from me, and you yourselves will be totally lost. However, my dear little
children, only think of these words and forget not entirely what I now say
to you. It shall not be so forever. A little while I shall be lost and not
be seen."
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*Complete Sermon - Third Sermon: Christ’s Death and Resurrection; the
Comfort Christ Ministers to his Disciples, and the World’s Joy*
*THIRD SUNDAY A...
18 minutes ago
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