to be really quite disgusted with the Church?

[CopperHandle]

Visited Norwich Cathedral and the place was plastered in begging signs asking for donations. They were boasting that it costs almost £4000 a DAY to run the building, not including major repairs which regularly run into six figures in a year.

For an institute that preaches charitable giving, putting others before self etc etc is it not massively hypocritical to run in such a way that is so incredibly costly?
£4,000 a day for a single building... so there are more than 80 cathedrals in the UK - just on this alone - how many people could be helped with this amount of money?!

AIBU to think this is massively hypocritical and, well, just plain wrong?

"Guildford is on the verge of bankruptcy due to asbestos removal'

And this is my point. I get that all local efforts need to be made but the assets the Church of England has should now be utilised instead of local blackmail about the threat of closure.

What local blackmail?

"The Rt Rev Andrew Watson said the cathedral faced the probability of financial failure.
He added: "We have looked at every possible 'plan b' but have found no other option open to us."
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, also submitted a plea to the council to support the proposal for 134 new homes on the unused land saying churches had huge social and economic benefits for an area.
Hundreds of comments were submitted on the proposals, but many objected over the loss of green space and fears over traffic, noise and flooding."

www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-38996605

Love +Andrew - fantastic bishop. You will see that the church wants to give glebelands over to social housing and the secular council is objecting.

I do think that this problem has been resolved now, btw.

Bit no coercion or blackmailing the parishes. Just an appeal to common sense,

Voluntary donations from family or tourists?

Both. Family (by which I assume you mean parishioners?) should donate regularly, whilst tourists and other occasional visitors (eg attendees at a wedding or christening) should also put their hands in the pockets

"give glebelands"

How does giving something away raise funds? Also, the secular council received secular objections from a range of people. Or does religious privilege trump local opinion? Glad it might be sorted though but nothing needed to be sold in the first place. Church of England has the assets to solve it.

Old castles are equally as much a part of our heritage and get a lot of funding so churches rely heavily on gifts and contributions. Imagine how much it costs to keep the drafty old houses some old dear with a passion for fancy headwear and her offspring owns up and running for people to gawp at yet we still do it.
Years ago when we all attended church and the collection box was sent around it was common practice to give 10% of your income so the churches would have been able to support themselves (i know it was in Catholic ones, forgive me if other religions differ)
York Minster made me laugh last time we went and took my mother as she loved the placed-as we not only paid to get in, there were the normal donations boxes and one specifically for "notes" which made us think "cheeky buggers" and less inclined tp leave any notes...

Now come on be fair CofE only has £6.7 billion in assets, £2 billion in land alone - we need to help people

Churches, everywhere, always ask for money which is why I don't go. It really turned me off , amongst other things, as a teenager seeing people struggle with significant financial issues and still being asked to give. Then I thought I'd try going back in my thirties - went to a few and nearly all the same - the one I thought was okay handed me a direct debit form on my third visit and asked me to commit to a monthly tithe. I always find their charitable activities are overweighed by their staffing costs etc - I'd rather give,and do, to good charities/causes directly eg none of them would give to Jordan Liberty's cancer fund but I think he's fantastic so I do.

oslolou

Then why don't you let the Church Commissioners know how? Or perhaps you don't really know just how a balance sheet works? Or the difference between assets and income?

...

I used to know Andrew Watson. Good bloke. I'm sorry to hear what's happening at Guildford.

There are some contributors here who really can't - or won't - grasp the point that the main income of the average church organisation is voluntary donation. Why the hell should that be taxed? It is certainly n not the general rule where I live, and if it's different in the UK then, frankly, it looks more than a little grabby.

Anglican church buildings were built on voluntary donations from the general public, both rich and poor, and have been maintained by them as community assets over centuries. If, due to declining donations, the church can't maintain them then precisely what is the church to do? It seems these are the options.

1. Charge for entry.
2. Tell the state to buy them, and maintain them out of the taxes of people who grumble about entry fees
3. Demolish them.

It seems that some here believe there is an option 4, which is that the church is simply telling porkies.

the CofE is certainly a big organisation. But it's more than a bit financially illiterate to assume it therefore has all the money to cover everything it needs to do.

I believe Northern Rock was a big institution once too.

When we visited Canterbury cathedral we were charged entry which I think is always wrong in a place of worship. I ALWAYS donate when visiting a church, don't need to be charged at the door. This might be unpopular but if the Queen is the head of the Church of England shouldn't there be a lot of financial help coming from that direction (btw I am a royalist)

I live in Norwich, so might be biased.... but I happen to think Norwich cathedral is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. It is incredibly old and I can totally believe it costs that much to keep it going. I regularly used to take my ds round the cloister when on Mat leave, I'd tip the buggy seat back and show him all the incredible bosses in the ceiling. YABU.

'When we visited Canterbury cathedral we were charged entry which I think is always wrong in a place of worship.'

Kathdoert- as many people have said, you will not be charged to go in for a service. Also, you can ask your local parish church for their cathedral pass.

I have never heard of a cathedral pass in my life, been to plenty of services, but now only go to pray.

Brasty- they exist, I'm not making it up. Why do people on here seem preoccupied with catching people out?