British Churches May Be Used As Rural Post Offices
by Michael Ireland
March 15, 2007
LONDON, ENGLAND (ANS) -- Go to church and mail a letter pick up your dry cleaning and groceries? For hundreds of village post offices in Great Britain threatened with closure, it could be an answer to their prayers.
Britain's Sunday Telegraph newspaper reports the Church of England is soon to issue guidelines to parishes throughout the United Kingdom recommending that churches across the country are used as post offices.Officials will meet with the Post Office's rural division this week to discuss plans in which stamps could be issued from vestries and pensions out of bell towers.
The newspaper says the proposed scheme may be extended to include other local services, such as dry cleaners and grocers, that face closure, particularly in rural areas. The Government's consultation period on the future of the post office network, launched after it announced in December that 2,500 premises could shut, ended last week.
"The guidelines are expected to say that, if churches want to provide local services that will require alterations to the fabric of the building, they must get permission from the diocesan consistory, the church court," the Sunday Telegraph reported.
Some heritage groups have expressed concern about the possible damage that could be caused to ancient buildings by necessary alterations, such as the installation of alarm systems and phone lines, it says.
A spokesman for The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings said: "There will always be churches that are of such outstanding importance that the introduction of a post office would just not be appropriate." But she added that the society supported the principle and would "consider each case on its own merits."
Rebecca Payne, the policy officer on church buildings for the Archbishops' Council, said: "The Post Office has been very supportive of our plans as it realizes how important it is to keep the service alive. We are publishing guidelines so that the churches know what is involved in taking up this responsibility."
A spokesman for the Post Office said: "We will do all we can to help. They can provide a much-needed and appreciated service that the villages otherwise wouldn't have."
In the parish of Whitwell on the Isle of Wight, the medieval village church will, from next month, become one of the first to become a post office. The bell tower will be turned into a community store, offering a dry cleaning service to villagers as well as allowing local people to buy stamps, the newspaper says.
The Rev Sandra Lloyd, the vicar of St Mary and St Rhadegund Whitwell, said that most parishioners believed that the initiative would help to preserve village life. "The traditional English village is facing hard times and we wanted to do our part to keep the sense of community alive," she said.
© 2007 ASSIST News Service, used with permission.
