COMMENT: Churches are closing. Who keeps the doors open?

Calderdale inherited churches built on industrial wealth, faith and community fund-raising. Keeping them open may now require a different kind of congregation.

You don’t have to believe in God to need a church.

Obtuse, but true.

Modern life has met with ecclesiastical tradition in myriad ways. My son went to church every week, despite being a confirmed atheist, eventually walking away with a black belt in Kung Fu. From dance classes to dungeons and dragons, food shares to photography clubs, and everything in between. Communities use church buildings for far more than worship.

But a troublesome combination of dwindling church attendance, ageing buildings, and high running costs is putting community group accommodation at risk.

In the past week alone concerns about the future of two Calderdale churches have led to concern amongst regulars.

Campaigners in Northowram, hoping the doors of Heywood Chapel and Hall will remain open, say around eleven community groups use the premises. And there is a similar story at St James’s in Mytholm, Hebden Bridge, where uncertainty over the building’s future puts church-based community activities at risk.

Campaigners at Heywood Chapel report a planned closure on 6 December. And St James’s future has yet to be determined, with the congregation being asked to consider options for the building after being told of its financial difficulties.

Meanwhile Hope Baptist Church in Hebden Bridge, managed since spring 2024 by Hebden Bridge Community Association, has been the subject of a potential community purchase – although, as HBCA freely admits in its published update, it does not have enough reserves to buy the chapel outright. A community share issue was identified as the most likely way to fund a purchase.

How did we get to the point in the 21st century where community groups are dependent on very old, expensive-to-run, large ecclesiastical buildings? History gives us a clue.