In Defence of Parish Churches
If we winter this one out, we can summer anywhere Seamus Heaney I stumbled across an incredibly moving sight today; Ribbons tied to the railings outside Old Gourock Parish Church, some Parishioners had even left beautiful little messages of remembrance for loved ones who’ve passed on during the year. This made me think about how difficult a year it’s been for everyone and just how important these structures are to the communities to whom they belong. So much so that there’s a right good chance my head might just explode if I hear one more fellow Christian say ‘Well Ross, you know, Churches are people not buildings’, in response to the ongoing restrictions on large public gatherings. Someone should have told our poor forefathers whose money and sweat literally built our places of worship that they needn’t have bothered because communal worship would eventually become an ‘outdated model’. Rather, when I look at an old parish Church I reflect upon the often repeated idea of great Cat