Black Country Churches Engaged

the sub-region’s ecumenical intermediate body

Faith Tourism

Black Country Faith Tourism Initiative

"No church is identical with any other. Nowhere else in the world are the places of worsip so idiosyncratic as in England........The humblest church is a casket of varieties." (Simon Jenkins, "England's Thousand Best Churches"

The purpose of this tourism initiative is to promote and enhance the sub-region's churches and other places of worship as spiritual, cultural and heritage assets - a market at present untapped.
It will attract additional visitors to the area, thus boosting the local economy.
It is intended to increase visitors' understanding and enjoymnent of the buildings and faith communtieis through improved access and interpretation.
It will provide opportunities for faith communities to build links with the wider community through the development of interpretation projects.
It will increase the contribution that faith communities can make to sustainablle urban tourism.
It will enable faith communities to provide a more effective ministry to visitors by considering their needs and providing the resources to meet them.

To achieve these objectives, funding.........is required. The funding will provide:-

Faith Tourism Co-Ordinator for the Black Country who will intially coppile a comprehensive database of the 100 places of worship which meet the criteria; thereafter the postholder will update the database, and be a resource to provide advice and inforamtion about all aspects of faith tourism.
Good quality leaflets for use in tourist information offices, hotels, conference centres and visitor attractions.
Trainng courses for volunteers and key people from the faith communities.
Small grants.........to enable faith communities to undertake projects that will enhance visitors' enjoyment and understanding of their place of worship, e.g.. a permanent display, a new guidebook, an audio-visual presentation, a resource pack for schools, resources for people with special neds.

The criteria for including a particular building in this tourism initiative would be:-
     - Historical significance
     - Architectural importance
     - Special features
     - Educational value
     - Famous connections
     - Landmark

The Black Country Tourism Initiative would be overseen by Black Country Churches Engaged as an established inter-church organisation, and links would be provided to other faith communities through the four multi-faith networks of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

If you have read through all this, perhaps you are on the same wavelength as the members of our Faith Tourism Task Group? Please make contact with us!

BCCE is a member of the Churches Tourism Association.

Two representatives attended the Association's Swanwick Conference. Patrick Kelly reported back to the Enabling Group. Although he had found it a very Anglican affair, and was disappointed that no handouts were provided, he considered it definitely worthwhile.

The opening address stressed that church buildings (mainly Anglican) were a major part of our heritage and the Church of England was taking church tourism seriously, appointing an officer in every diocese (mostly honorary). As hosting the Olympics was attracting finance, 2012 was to be thought of as providing a major tourism opportunity.

Harriet Crabtree spoke of faith trails being developed, showcasing beautiful buildings in some area. Where there was an inter-faith element, this helped build community cohesion.

Sir Roy Strong’s contribution concerned country churches (12,000 of the 16,000 Anglican churches are listed buildings). He stressed the need for them to change (or perish): adaptability was essential.

Janet Gough, head of Cathedral and Church Buildings in the Church of England talked of the tourism potential of cathedrals, and the danger of turning pilgrims into tourists. She argued that more churches should be kept open, with experience indicating that that would not encourage vandalism.

Christopher Martin gave a visual presentation based on his book "Glimpses of Heaven". There were some outstanding Catholic churches and cathedrals which frequently provided an alternative style to Anglican parish churches and cathedrals.

Patrick had made a point of attending the workshop on money! This was specifically about the Heritage Lottery Fund from which 3,500 churches have benefited, though many of the grants have been for repairs. A church has to be listed and, as there are between 10,000 and 25,000 potentially eligible, bids are competitive. Wind and water damage, and urgency are considered, and conservation and participation (including interpretation) "count" as do schemes involving imaginative uses and wider-community purposes Any application must be heritage-focused.

From Ecclesiastical Insurance, Kevin Thomas’s subject was security issues. Health & Safety legislation made clear that churches need to care for trespassers (steps, loose mats, toppling headstones!). Theft is an old problem and one church in four suffers per year. However legitimate visitors deter thieves and an open church does not require a loaded insurance premium. It is of course good sense to remove specific temptation! Kevin Thomas would be willing to come to speak to church leaders, providing the meeting was quorate.

Helen McGowan spoke of Divine Inspirations in the Coventry Diocese. Two project officers are employed and there are 200 ambassadors.

In the north-west of England, Heritage grants for interpretation were being obtained by inter-faith sacred sites, though it was proving difficult to get mosques to reach the required criteria.

Lloyd Grossman stressed both the increasing costliness of conservation and how essential churches are to tourism. The big urban churches present the major problem, together with redundant Anglican churches.

In discussion at the Enabling Group, Patrick made the point that in the Black Country, 50,000 jobs were dependent on tourism, and the annual Christmas coach-load to St Mary’s was an indication of the significance of Walsall as a place to stay! Peter Christie commended the Sandwell Faith Trail.

Simon Mansfield, unable to attend the Enabling Group meeting, furnished a written report on a different seminar he had attended.

"I found the seminar on Faith Guiding extremely helpful in the light of our wanting to map all religious buildings in the Black Country.

"Most cathedrals employ either visitor officers or make arrangements to welcome visitors by having volunteer guides and welcomers. Cathedrals produce elaborate guidebooks which explain and interpret the buildings. Bennett (1925) who was at the forefront of opening up cathedrals to the general public in the 1920’s did not wish the cathedral authorities to be like ‘policemen ‘(Bennett, 1925) but to be open to everyone who entered the building.

"Guides are not theologically trained and their training has concentrated on the following aspects; history, architecture and presentation: spirituality has not been emphasized – perhaps this is something we ought to correct. To interpret the history and architecture of the building properly it is necessary to speak about religion, but with the decline in the knowledge of the Christian faith this is now paramount in this missionary age.

"In order to progress our idea of mapping the religious buildings in the Black Country we need to speak to the Black Country Consortium for their support for a Knowledge Transfer to a university. I have spoken to Professor Leslie Francis in the Religion and Educations unit at Warwick University who would be happy to progress this idea. I realise that not every church will want to take part in this project, but it will help members of each religious faith to understand their belief better and to explain it others who would like to understand them better."

"This will improve social cohesion, provide better interfaith relations, and show people where each religious building is - perhaps encouraging a labyrinth walk between them.

"There is a faith guiding course which we can use, or we could contact one of the leaders who would be willing to talk to us."

Office Address:

18 Selman’s Hill

Bloxwich

Walsall

West Midlands

WS3 3RJ