Churches have always been closed down when they are deemed no longer to be supported by local people. Formal procedures governed by Church law have seen parishes merged and buildings either sold, demolished or given to community groups. But the scale of closures has grown and the pace has quickened markedly in recent years, partly as a result of the pandemic. As we report today, some 423 were decommissioned in the past decade. It is estimated that the same number might go over the next five years, a rate of closure some eight times pre-pandemic levels.

There is a suspicion among traditionalists that this process is being actively embraced by the Church of England. New rules making it easier to close churches are fuelling concern that the centuries-old parish system will be undermined if the buildings around which they are based are replaced by new gatherings of worshippers in unconventional, non-religious and so-called “mixed ecology” settings. This strategy is intended to encourage “fresh expressions” of worship aimed at drawing in new followers as church attendance continues to decline.

There has undoubtedly been a strong cultural shift that has seen Anglicans shunning regular church-going, and this is driving certain changes. In 1941, there were nearly 19,000 churches but this has fallen to around 15,500. It contrasts with attendances in Roman Catholic Churches and in the places of worship of other faiths, like mosques and synagogues, which are not in thrall to the idea of making themselves “relevant”. Most of the churches facing closure are in inner cities but perhaps if they were made more central to community life they would flourish once more.