St Mark's Church in Mayfair turned into a food hall

[successstories]

I was quite uncomfortable to see this former place of worship being turned into a food hall.

There was something disturbing about spaghetti and pizza being dished up in front of all the religious objects and imagery (which are very prominent, still in situ and pretty much intact)

Isn't there a Christian organisation that could have ensured this building was preserved for a more suitable use? If this had happened to a Synagogue or a Mosque for example, there would have been outrage.

AIBU?

Where my parents live in North Wales there are so many houses now that are in old disused chapels. All the pews were pulled out of the chapel near them and are now inside bus shelters all over the area. I think it's nice, it's making use of things that otherwise wouldn't be.

This is everything I was about to come and say! I've been on those posts reassuring people unfamiliar with churches that it is fine to wear jeans and to be relaxed.

I'm a regular churchgoer and a deconsecrated church is likely a beautiful building I'd far rather was maintained as a space people can use than allowed to fall into disrepair. This food hall sounds lovely.

But using sacred objects as cafe decoration feels a bit much, doesn’t it.

That's what makes it worse.

If it had been an emptyish 'shell' perhaps it wouldn't be so shocking. But everything is pretty much intact, they've crammed up lots into a small place. It's almost as if they wanted to create this offensive juxtaposition effect on purpose (I'm not saying that they did, but it certainly feels like it when you are there)

When I was at uni 20 years ago, there was a church that had been turned into a bar!

Going back to my point, this would never have been allowed if it was a building that had been used by any other religion.

Who do you think would have disallowed it?!

@successstories Out of curiosity I had a very quick Google.
I found a synagogue in Newcastle that has been converted into flats and a Mosque in Portsmouth that is going to be.
So yeah.....it does happen to 'other religions' 🙄

@Hardbackwriter, I follow the Friendless Churches twitter account. Something quite moving about all those tiny and ancient and now empty churches they look after.

Photo proof @successstories

If we, as a society, want to keep them for heritage purposes that costs money.
What would you suggest?

It could have gone to the National Trust, for instance. The location and the building (overall architecture and detail inside) would certainly merit this.

Our local library is in a converted church. Presumably a library is preferable to a building standing empty?

A library would definitely have been more suitable

If this had happened to a Synagogue or a Mosque for example, there would have been outrage.

No there wouldn't. I hate this lazy argument.

Why do you think there would be outrage if other religious buildings were repurposed @successstories?

If it's such an offensive concept to you, why did you go?

A former church near me has been a Wetherspoons for ages www.jdwetherspoon.com/pubs/all-pubs/scotland/south-ayrshire/the-west-kirk-ayr

@successstories Maybe you should be focusing on why church attendance has become so low that churches become unused.
Also are only the old fashioned pretty buildings worth saving? If it was a church in an ugly 1970s square box with bars on it's windows (there's a church near me like that) would you be so fussed?

Me too, and love looking at their photos - I agree it's beautiful and moving. And I do think there's a place for preservation as historic sites, but it can't and shouldn't be done for every former church. I'd always rather they be living buildings where possible. I absolutely adore church buildings - at the risk of a MN outing hobby, visiting them is one of DH and I's favourite pasttimes. My least favourite church I've ever visited is St Paul's because it feels like a tourist site not a place for people, community and worship. A church that is just a thing to look it really is dead.

There is less importance attached to the physical building/artifacts in Judaism. Communal worship can happen as long as there are 10 Jewish adults. There are services in people's homes and in classrooms and there are many people who prefer to worship in such places over a conventional synagogue. What is more important I think is the accessibility of the synagogue for the congregation. There is a synagogue in Knightsbridge and my own synagogue is also in central London; this works for me as I can travel to central London as I am a Liberal Jew. I do live in north London and have 3 synagogues within walking distance but i feel most at home in the central London synagogue (which is also the flagship).

However for orthodox Jews, this is not workable (as they can't drive or use public transport on shabbat) and most Jewish people now live in the North London suburbs and beyond..when my synagogue was built, this wasn't the case and I think there were quite a lot of Jewish people who lived locally , probably in council flats or its predecessor. Demographics of an area do change over time and I can see that in a location like Knightsbridge, there may be fewer 'locals' who would require a place of worship, regardless of religion.

Near me there is a former synagogue which is now a wetherspoons!

If it's such an offensive concept to you, why did you go?

I was walking past and went in to see what was there.

I didn't stay or buy anything. The whole thing felt wrong and we had lunch somewhere else

Grosvenor Estate & the COE tried multiple times to convert it to other uses, but it's costly and complicated. It's a Grade 1 listed building, the alterations that can be made to the interior are limited, so very hard to repurpose for office space or similar. At least in the current form anyone can go in, and see the beautiful interiors.

Going back to my point, this would never have been allowed if it was a building that had been used by any other religion.

We won't find out because their buildings are actually used for worship, teaching and community events.

Also lots of newer churches hold services in theatres and other non-religious buildings.

YABU

Fewer people attend church now than in the past, which means churches are less able to afford to maintain their buildings and to keep them open. So they’re sold to developers, often turned into housing or other businesses. Which i think is better than them lying derelict or being demolished and replaced with identikit new builds.

repairs to old buildings are often expensive and extensive, do you really think that’s something a Christian charity can/should spend it’s money on rather than the actual purpose of the charity?

A misplaced victim complex.

If it's the church I'm thinking of, the church had no use for it so - why not have someone else use the building?
It's bricks and mortar (more or less) and space is at a premium. Presumably someone owns the land and is now getting a return on their investment?

Just for balance, I live very close to a Sikh Gurdwara which used to be a pub!