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  1. #1
    Name well known on Brit-Gen
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Cheshire UK
    Posts
    4,863

    Default St Mary's Church Market Place Stockport

    Have learnt this evening that the pews are being reoved possibly in the next week, photographs of the church as it is at present are being taken.

    Stackable chairs will replace the pews.

    Evidently the upkeep of the Church is becoming prohibitive, the idea being that the removal of the pews will create an area that lends itself to other events, i.e exhibitions.

  2. #2
    MarkJ
    Guest

    Default

    I have moved this to the general chatter forum as it is a general comment on the subject.

    Very sad IMHO that churches are destroying their history to attempt to make a profit from the buildings....

    Some time ago, there was discussion on the forum about the flattening and/or removal of headstones to make it easier to "maintain" churchyards. I personally do not hold any religious views, but, as part of my genealogical and historical interests, I hate to see the destruction of our heritage in this way.

    Stackable chairs? Sheesh! I appreciate an hour on a wooden pew can be a bit uncomfortable, but plastic or wooden chairs will not be any better!

    Many churches hold "exhibitions" already - the flower shows etc - either by fitting them in around the church itself or by using a church hall.

  3. #3
    Knowledgeable and helpful stepives's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Ireland, but born Buckinghamshire.
    Posts
    684

    Default

    If the people don't want to their church treated in such a way, then more of them should go to church and put more money in the collections.
    As church numbers dwindle in some areas, this the only recourse.

    'Hard times' effects everyone, and the church is not immune to this.

    Fortunately, my home town church is having a re-vamp......installing more efficient heating, damp proofing etc. and office extensions have been done in the past.

    The graveyard is another issue, outside of that of the church building. The headstones and gravemarkers(in 'my' church) are being stabilised and re-established on the graves. This has been done in conjunction with voluntary groups, the council and the church.

    Lets be honest....church pews were never designed to be comfortable, and are often cramped. And those kneeling bars are horrendous. If church is supposed to be a joy, then why should the congregation be made to sit in uncomfortable and cramped seats. Anything has to better than those wooden benches, which you can hardly get your bum on.
    Side stepping, and shuffling along to get a seat........and hope we are fit enough to do it.

    Whoever said.........'Suffer the children, who come unto me', wasn't kidding. (I know this is out of context).

    Bin(or sell them), the benches/pews, and give them bums a respite.

    I'm one of those, who goes to church for weddings and funerals, and the odd christening. But I love walking around them. The basic fabric of most churches stay the same.........but some fixtures and fitting are always updated at times.

    What would our own houses look like, if they were never revamped or updated. Horrendous, I would think, in today's world.



    Steve.

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