Demolishing the Obsolete?

I remember a sign in Cologne Cathedral saying: “This is not a museum.” Fair point, I guess, but when I read in the Catholic Herald of the £3m to shore up the ruins of Westminster Cathedral, I wonder if that news belongs as a piece of “Christian news” or does it belong in English Heritage Weekly etc? Westminster Cathedral, the UK’s premier Roman Catholic place of worship, could close within 10 years unless urgent structural repairs are carried out. The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, launched a £3 million restoration appeal on Wednesday. He said the Grade 1 listed building ‘is recognised as one of the finest examples of Victorian architecture and Byzantine art in the world. However, time has taken its toll and we must now take urgent action to ensure the future of this living house of prayer.’ Begun in 1895, the Cathedral draws some 4,000 worshippers each Sunday and has relied entirely on donations from parishioners.

I was interested to read  (The Times 15/1) of students of La Sapienza University (in Rome) forcing Pope Benedict to call off a lecture on the basis of his ‘obscurantist’ position on science. Some 67 academics also wrote claiming the visit was inappropriate. They felt ‘offended and humiliated’ –apparently- by a statement he made twenty years back shrugging off Galileo’s heresy trial as justified within the context of the time. ‘No voice should be silenced in our country least of all that of the Pope’ commented Prime Minister Romano Prodi. It’s a similar kind of picture isn’t it? Our buildings are museums and our leaders museum-pieces?

In Zimbabwe, truncheons were used by the state police to break up twenty Anglican congregations. Although the Province of Central Africa replaced Rt Revd Nolbert Kunonga with Dr Sebastian Bakare, the former bishop and ally of President Mugabe, he has refused to step down. On Saturday he said the country’s churches now belonged to a new ‘Church of the Province of Zimbabwe’. The police then issued circulars warning that only services conducted by priests loyal to Kunonga could be attended. The Archbishop of Canterbury condemned ‘unequivocally the use of state machinery to intimidate opponents of the deposed bishop’ and declared his support for Bishop Bakare. Dr Bakare confirmed that Anglican churches would again defy the ban this Sunday.

 The demolition story goes on: (Church of England Newspaper 18/1): The government of Orissa state has supported last week’s torching of churches and Christian homes. A wave of ‘premeditated, pre-planned’ attacks by Hindu extremists has forced over 3,000 Christians to flee their homes and the CNI General Secretary, Revd Enos Das Pradhan, said the attacks were accompanied by the ‘utter collapse of the law and order machinery.’ The All-India Christian Council reported that 95 churches were attacked and the homes of 730 Christian families destroyed. Mr Pradhan appealed for prayer for Bishop Kumar Kayak and local Christians to ‘keep witnessing through their lives at this hour of oppression and atrocities.’

Are moral reservations also something that’s obsolete and worthy of wholesale demolition? According to the CEN Newspaper (18/1). The House of Lords has voted 2 to 1 in favour of plans to create hybrid human and animal embryos, despite warnings from the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Winchester. The experiments will involve injecting human DNA into empty eggs from cows in order to increase the pool of eggs available for research into diseases like Parkinson’s and spinal muscular dystrophy. Archbishop Rowan Williams told the Lords debate there were ‘major moral reservations’ concerning the plans. He was alarmed by the health minister’s use of the phrase ‘the human end of the spectrum’. Dr Williams also voiced concern at the lack of clear thinking as legislation ‘inexorably [moves] towards a more instrumental view of how we may treat human organisms’. Members of the group Christian Concern for our Nation wore animal masks as they demonstrated opposition to the Bill outside the Lords.

But take heart, there are other kinds of demolition at work, the magazine Christianity (Feb 08) carries a story about  a Christian-led education project that has won a National Youth Justice award after it slashed youth crime in a London borough by 58.5 per cent year-on-year. The Spark2Life programme received the team award for making an ‘outstanding contribution to tackling youth crime’ at this year’s Criminal Justice System (CJS) awards. Youth worker Dez Brown developed the programme in Wandsworth schools with the backing of police and the local education authority. Linked to school citizenship and PSHE courses, it combined a keynote talk with classroom sessions and a mentoring scheme in 13 schools. Following this success, Mr Brown hopes to take the programme to other boroughs and cities.

And finally, as thousands of debt-ridden families wake up to the reality of Christmas overspending, a Christian charity is offering churches the chance to come to their aid. Christians Against Poverty (CAP) has produced CAP Money, a course featuring Alpha-type filmed talks, to help people budget their way out of hardship. CAP founder John Kirkby said they were launching the course ‘in response to the overwhelming demand for a simple, easy-to-follow money management course that will make a long-term difference.’ Alan Meyer, senor minister of Elim Community Church in Carlisle, said a pilot scheme they had run ‘had a fantastic response’. ‘We are looking forward to using it as an evangelistic tool because of the huge impact it is able to make in people’s lives,’ he added. Meanwhile, the Methodist Church has produced thousands of fake credit cards bearing the inscription ‘Buy L£ss, Live More’. The cards are designed as a reminder to fit in a wallet and carry the inscription ‘MARK 10:17-27’ in place of a credit card number. 

“Demolishing strongholds” and upholding values…. and the wisdom to know the difference?