much better use of this space than to propagate abrahamic hatred!
--
sent from samsung galaxy note, so please excuse brevity
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: sri
Date: Tue, Apr 1, 2014 at 10:05 AM
Subject: Churches In England Being Converted To Bars
To:
At one church, the only thing being worshipped is beer -- at another, gleaming cars are on sale. Increasingly, it seems, a different kind of conversion is taking place at Britain's churches.
At another table, 33-year-old Yamini pronounced the pub "beautiful".
Rachel Chudley, a 28-year-old interior designer, bought a flat in an east London church four years ago. It's far more modest than the £50 million mansion, but lacks none of the charm, with stone faces carved into the frames of her spectacular arched windows.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/churches-in-england-are-being-converted-to-bars-photos-2014-3#ixzz2xbdEd17C
From: sri
Date: Tue, Apr 1, 2014 at 10:05 AM
Subject: Churches In England Being Converted To Bars
To:
Churches In England Are Being Converted To Bars
Leon Neal/AFP/File
Bar at O'Neills pub, pictured in a former Presbyterian church in Muswell Hill, north London, on January 16, 2014
Thanks to a steady decline in religion and the high costs of maintaining these historic buildings, a rising number of churches are being given new lives that may have horrified their founders.
Behind the imposing red-brick facade of one Presbyterian church in north London's upmarket Muswell Hill district, throbbing pop music and barrels of Guinness are the first clues that there's a new congregation.
The soaring Gothic arches remain but instead of an altar there's a huge bar, while tables, stools and slot-machines stand in place of the pews. Built in 1902, the church's beautiful exterior remains unchanged. Inside, it's an Irish pub.
"If it was a church, there would be only two or three people here -- but on Fridays and Saturdays, it's packed," said John Earl, a construction worker, as he nursed a pint.
"It is weird," he admitted. "I feel I kind of have to respect it. I don't mind being drunk here, but I don't want people carving the pillars."
Leon Neal/AFP/File
Bar at O'Neills pub, pictured in a former Presbyterian church in Muswell Hill, north London, on January 16, 2014
"It has a different look from the other pubs," she said as she sipped red wine with a friend. "And it's being used instead of being abandoned."
Religious worship has been declining in Britain for years, and church authorities are increasingly forced to rethink the management of their huge -- and very expensive -- estates.
Policy varies between denominations. The dominant Church of England has strict rules on conversions meaning a building can only be sold if a committee approves its future use, after a lengthy process.
"Churches can't be used for sex shops, gambling premises and things like that," explained Jeremy Tipping, manager of the Church of England's Closed Churches Team.
But a wide range of other church occupants have been given the nod -- a climbing centre in the city of Manchester; a circus school in Bristol, where trapezes hang from the rafters; a supermarket, a library, a Sikh temple.
"A church always looks like a church, no matter what it's used for," Tipping told AFP.
"When it has a tower and a spire and arched windows, the association will always be with the Church of England -- so they are very, very sensitive that any future use must be one which is appropriate."
Leon Neal/AFP/File
Bar at O'Neills pub, pictured in a former Presbyterian church in Muswell Hill, north London, on January 16, 2014
Irreligious conversions?
But tough regulations have not stopped conversions from throwing up a few embarrassments for the Church of England.
A display of "erotic" art at one church-turned-gallery prompted an outcry amongst some parishioners, Tipping recalled.
Nor is the Catholic Church immune to such predicaments -- its rules are less strict, leaving decisions about conversions up to local dioceses rather than a national committee.
In the northwestern city of Liverpool, St Peter's Church now houses a restaurant which hosts evenings celebrating that festival of all things ungodly, Halloween.
"It's deeply inappropriate and offensive for lots of Catholics," said Sophie Andreae, a committee vice-chairwoman at the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.
The Church of England knocked down nearly 500 churches between 1969 and 2011, while more than 1,000 were de-consecrated and sold or rented out -- bringing in a much-needed £47 million.
The most common fate of ex-churches is to be transformed into homes -- sometimes luxury ones, such as the ultra-modern seven-bedroom London house, complete with swimming pool, which went on the market for £50 million last year.
Carl Court/AFP/File
Rachel Chudley poses for a photo in the living room of her apartment, which has been converted from a church in east London, on January 16, 2014
"We're right up at the top of the church, at the steeple," she said as she took AFP on a guided tour. "My family has joked and said, 'Rachel is closer to heaven now!'"
Chudley, an agnostic, admitted that she sometimes wonders if it's disrespectful to live in a church.
"Sometimes I feel a bit bad because I think, 'Oh God, am I being sacrilegious?" she laughed.
But she admits she has taken "some liberties" with the place. A sculpture of a pierced penis sits in pride of place in her living room.
Copyright (2014) AFP. All rights reserved.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/churches-in-england-are-being-converted-to-bars-photos-2014-3#ixzz2xbdEd17C
sent from samsung galaxy note, so please excuse brevity
No comments:
Post a Comment