Pause, discover, pray

To St Pancras Church in Euston Rd to 'An Open Presence,' an event organised by the Diocese of London designed to encourage churches to open their buildings to the public as much as possible.

This is a cause dear to our heart in Bermondsey where we are trying to have our church buildings open as often as we can.

There was lots of good stuff at this afternoon's conference, including sensible practical advice from Ecclesiastical, the people who insure most church buildings. Interestingly, they are definitely pro churches being opened as much as possible.

Particularly heartening was the story of St Mary's, Islington which has recently moved from being a church that is closed most of the week to one that is open every day for most of the day.

They've had precious little damage, and a few minor thefts (kettles and biscuits being particularly popular among the light-fingered community of Islington), but (unsought) donations from visitors have more than covered their costs - and, more significantly, 40-50 visitors  have been able to visit the church to every day to 'pause, discover, pray.'

St Mary's vicar, Simon Harvey, describes their story here