The cost of religion?

Liverpoolphil said:
The council also charge people to use the hall and use money given from the government and income from charges and rent from people using the hall - money doesn't appear from nowhere - it will all come from our pockets in some way

Central Coffers within churches are made up mainly from assests as opposed to a big pot of money hidden somewhere that they can all dip into.

We will all benefit in some way from these historic buildings - whether that be from the tourist industry which just keeps growing , or a place where people can learn about our past or just somewhere for people to take time out and to reflect. The UKs history and heritage is very important to our lives and none of it comes free - any church maybe be rich in assests but they need a lot of funding to provide the services they do and it's only fair that people that use the facilities help fund the upkeep.

But as with everything - there is the choice not to pay and visit these sites if people don't agree with having to pay.

£16 - £18 to go into St Paul's and be amazed at all the history inside for me was money well spent - for others it won't be
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I get that Phil, but when you read thinks like the Church of Scotland losing 40+ Million during the banking crisis imo opinion certain institutions shouldn't be playing the stock market, SILH's place of Worship needs £150,000.00 for essential works, this isn't a tourist place, they hire the hall out, but I woukd suggest it's going to take a lot of WI or Tea Parties to raise that amount and the people worrying about raising that money isn't the Church Elders it'll be the man and woman in the street who probably contribute every week as it is now.
 
pauldj42 said:
I get that Phil, but when you read thinks like the Church of Scotland losing 40+ Million during the banking crisis imo opinion certain institutions shouldn't be playing the stock market, SILH's place of Worship needs £150,000.00 for essential works, this isn't a tourist place, they hire the hall out, but I woukd suggest it's going to take a lot of WI or Tea Parties to raise that amount and the people worrying about raising that money isn't the Church Elders it'll be the man and woman in the street who probably contribute every week as it is now.
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This is true - though we have given ourselves 5 yrs to raise the money. The church will contribute on top of that as the overall cost is a lot more (it's a complete knock-down and rebuild - leaving just the original church and old hall - though the latter might still go) and we cannot expect central funds to pay it all - it just couldn't - and that's not the way churches work.

If we want to do something it is up to us to make it happen, but our membership of maybe 150 can't to it alone. And so we launch our project with faith and a believe that we can do it. And we will. But we need the community involved. So lots of fundraising events - I'm going to be running a golf day at my club sometime in the new year - hopefully getting local business to sponsor and enter teams. And I'm doing the Immortal memory and Reply on behalf of the Ladies on our Burns Supper in Jan.

And in 5 yrs - god willing - we'll have lovely new halls and facilities that the whole town can use and enjoy.
 
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SwingsitlikeHogan said:
This is true - though we have given ourselves 5 yrs to raise the money. The church will contribute on top of that as the overall cost is a lot more (it's a knock-down and rebuild) and we cannot expect central funds to pay it all - it just couldn't and that's not the way churches work. If we want to do something it is up to us to make it happen , but our membership of maybe 150 can't to it alone. And so we launch our project with faith and a believe that we can do it. And we will. But we need the community involved. So lots of fundraising events - I'm going to be running a golf day at my club sometime in the new year - hopefully getting local business to sponsor and enter teams.

And in 5 yrs - god willing - we'll have lovely new halls and facilities that the whole town can use and enjoy.
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I wish you all the best and hope you reach your target.
 
If you want to go in for a few words with the person upstairs no charge....
If you want to go in for a look that'll cost you..

Any different from putting your hard earnt into the collection pots constantly being waved in your face whilst the CEO's of the charities are often on six figure salaries...
 
pauldj42 said:
I get that Phil, but when you read thinks like the Church of Scotland losing 40+ Million during the banking crisis imo opinion certain institutions shouldn't be playing the stock market, SILH's place of Worship needs £150,000.00 for essential works, this isn't a tourist place, they hire the hall out, but I woukd suggest it's going to take a lot of WI or Tea Parties to raise that amount and the people worrying about raising that money isn't the Church Elders it'll be the man and woman in the street who probably contribute every week as it is now.
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The Church of Scotland lost £40mil ?

Because the value of assets they own dropped ? Do they own shares ?

Tried to find the reports on that to see how they lost that sort of money but couldn't ?
 
Liverpoolphil said:
How many companies have they invested into ?! Plus hedge funds ?

But what it does appear to say is that they are all long term investments . So 7 years down the line have they recovered now ( as other shares have ) and now back up to value ?
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I don't know Phil, as I said, there's something wrong imo with church's playing in the stock market.
 
I've visited a lot of churches and cathedrals over the years and the cost can vary significantly. I was at Salisbury Cathedral this year and the suggested donation was a mere £7.50 and it costs an estimated £14,000 to update the building. That's a lot of visitors required. http://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/visit-plan-your-visit/recommended-donations

Given the location and iconic history of St Pauls I can see why they are charging what they are to visit. Surely though it's a simple argument of whether you think it's value for money and therefore a cost worth paying or not. Isn't that the same of any tourist attraction and not something exclusive to religious sites
 
HomerJSimpson said:
I've visited a lot of churches and cathedrals over the years and the cost can vary significantly. I was at Salisbury Cathedral this year and the suggested donation was a mere £7.50 and it costs an estimated £14,000 to update the building. That's a lot of visitors required. http://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/visit-plan-your-visit/recommended-donations

Given the location and iconic history of St Pauls I can see why they are charging what they are to visit. Surely though it's a simple argument of whether you think it's value for money and therefore a cost worth paying or not. Isn't that the same of any tourist attraction and not something exclusive to religious sites
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Nobody is saying they shouldn't raise money and of course it takes a lot of money for the upkeep of these places of worship.

Thorpe Park or Madame Tussauds is a tourist attraction, St Pauls is first and foremost a church, a suggested donation is also different to an admission charge, maybe, just maybe there are religious people who would love to visit these places but can't afford it, whether you or I think it's value for money makes no difference to them.
 
pauldj42 said:
Nobody is saying they shouldn't raise money and of course it takes a lot of money for the upkeep of these places of worship.

Thorpe Park or Madame Tussauds is a tourist attraction, St Pauls is first and foremost a church, a suggested donation is also different to an admission charge, maybe, just maybe there are religious people who would love to visit these places but can't afford it, whether you or I think it's value for money makes no difference to them.
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Religious people would most prob visit places like St Paul's to pray surely ? And then it's free.

The ones paying to enter are ones who are seeing it as a tourist attraction

And even then at £18 it's considerably cheaper than most of the tourist attractions.
 
Liverpoolphil said:
Religious people would most prob visit places like St Paul's to pray surely ? And then it's free.

The ones paying to enter are ones who are seeing it as a tourist attraction

And even then at £18 it's considerably cheaper than most of the tourist attractions.
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Because that's all religious people do then, just pray!

£18.00 is a lot of money if you haven't got it.

2 further points I was unaware of:

If you gift aid your admission fee you get free admission for 12 months, so £18.00 for 12 months entry is excellent.

It's not free for prayer, it is free entry for worship when a service is on, when there is no service on, a side chapel is opened for private prayer or contemplation.

In principle I still don't accept admission fees, but donations I have no issue with.
 
I paid £13 to get into Bovington [tank museum] yet I can get into the IWM for nowt... As a taxpayer, it could be argued, I pay towards both... So, why the charge for one and not the other...
 
I presume the tank museum is a private museum. All publicly owned museums are free to enter, thank you TB govt for a genuinely top decision, but the tank museum may be private standalone museum.
 
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