‘In a well-attended debate led by Fiona Bruce, Conservative MP for Congleton, in Westminster Hall on Tuesday (13 November), members discussed the implications of the decision against Preston Downs Trust, which owns gospel halls in Torquay, Paignton and Newton Abbot.
‘The Brethren church was denied charitable status over concerns that it does not satisfy the ‘public benefit’ requirement; the lack of public access to the communion services held in gospel halls was specifically mentioned.
‘Ms Bruce and numerous other MPs highlighted the extensive work carried out by the Brethren in their communities, including support for families, care for young people, disaster relief, visits to prisons, hospitals, and donations of substantial funds to many charities. She said, ‘Surely no-one can argue that they do not provide public benefit’ and also defended the ‘openness’ of the Brethren; they actively share their faith and make information about their services available to non-Brethren. Ms Bruce said, ‘Restricting access to Holy Communion should not be a reason for refusing charitable status.’
‘Other MPs raised concerns about the wider implications of the Charity Commission’s decision for churches and Christian groups.
‘Charlie Elphicke, Conservative MP for Dover, said: This is a test case on religion and the thin end of the wedge, particularly given that the Charity Commission’s letter says that even the Church of England would have to prove public benefit.
Amendments under the Charities Act 2006 removed the presumption of ‘public benefit’ for organisations that advance religion and required charities that had been registered under the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855 to seek registration with the Charity Commission.
Churches therefore now have to demonstrate how they are of benefit to the public, whereas before it was taken as a given that they were.
‘Public benefit’ is not clearly defined in the Act, but the Charity Commission states that it must be identifiable, balanced against any harm, appropriate to the charity’s aims, and not ‘unreasonably restricted’ in a way that might prevent some people from benefiting from the charity’s work.
The Brethren, which has over 370 gospel halls throughout the UK, has enjoyed charitable status for over 50 years. Following the changes to the law under the 2006 Act, they had to re-apply. Brethren’ representatives met with the Charity Commission in 2008 to discuss a programme for registering all their gospel halls, and it was agreed that a sample application would be submitted by one of their trusts, Preston Downs. This was made on 18 February 2009.
The third Plague upon all their houses was the curse of the judges that temples and houses of worship were not worthy of tax relief status.
My Lords, The Morg fails the duty of care test of public benefit, and the sooner they’re forced to account the better. esias, board post 20th May 2014, ‘Beware The Brethren Who Are Not Your Brethren’
The first churches were ordinary houses. Waldemar Januszczak, The Dark Ages: An Age of Light I: The Clash of the Gods, BBC 2012
Pugin: A new generation of churches would be in the frontline in the war to save Victorian souls. Simon Schama, A History of Britain: Victoria & Her Sisters, BBC 2000
Art would succeed where the Church had failed. Simon Schama’s Power of Art: Van Gogh, BBC 2006
I believe that Christianity’s basis is a personal relationship to Jesus Christ, rather than relationship to churches. Dr Ian Paisley
Christian places for faith and devotion have been created in every conceivable size and shape. Art of Faith: Christianity, Sky Arts 2012
St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol: In the west of England the medieval merchants of Bristol used their wealth to build a great and glorious church. ibid.
For Roman Catholics the very best church in Christendom in St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. ibid.
Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary de Vence: Matisse designed the ceramic walls and floor, the stained glass, the murals, the furnishings and even the robes for the priests. ibid.
Chapel of St Ignatius, Seattle [Jesuit]: designer Stephen Holl. ibid.
The way to get people back to the Church is to tell them they’re going to burn in Hell for eternity if they use contraceptives. Spitting Image s1e1, Pope, ITV 1984
The only time Christ ever got angry is when he went to Church. Father Tom Doyle
You use the church like a shield against this imaginary evil. Judgment Day: The John List Story 1993 starring Robert Blake & Beverly D’Angelo & David Caruso & Melinda Dillon & Alice Krige & David Purdham et al, director Bobby Roth
They were God’s children. So I sent them to heaven. ibid. John
Church? It bores me. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1958 starring Paul Newman & Elizabeth Taylor & Burl Ives & Judith Anderson & Jack Carson & Madeleine Sherwood & Larry Gates & Vaughn Taylor, director Richard Brooks, Big Daddy
But you leaving the church – your place here, the people who need ya, that don’t make no sense either. The Outrage 1964 starring Paul Newman & Laurence Harvey & Claire Bloom & Edward G Robinson & William Shatner et al, director Martin Ritt, bloke to preacher
Hmn-humn-hummn nothing much left to preach about, eh Reverend? ibid. Robinson
A church in Norfolk, Virginia holds debt revivals – individuals with large debts are selected – and then donations from parishioners pay off those debts. The church members then destroy their credit cards. Danny Schechter: In Debt We Trust ***** 2007
Dear Mother, dear Mother, the Church is cold,
But the Ale-house is healthy & pleasant & warm;
Besides I can tell where I am used well,
Such usage in heaven will never do well.
But if at the Church they would give us some Ale,
And a pleasant fire our souls to regale,
We'd sing and we’d pray all the live-long day,
Nor ever once wish from the Church to stray.
Then the Parson might preach, & drink, & sing,
And we'd be as happy as birds in the spring;
And modest dame Lurch, who is always at Church,
Would not have bandy children, nor fasting, nor birds.
And God, like a father rejoicing to see
His children as pleasant and happy as he,
Would have no more quarrel with the Devil or the Barrel,
But kiss him, & give him both drink and apparel. William Blake, The Little Vagabond
There are undeniably certain differences between a pub and a church, but Nietzsche insisted that there were great similarities in the consolation available in both. Alain de Botton, Philosophy: Nietzsche on Hardship, Channel 4 2014
How wonderful. Such majesty. Such beauty frozen into stone. See how it rises. So far above our heads. All the way to heaven. The Mystery of Edwin Drood I, Mr Neville re church architecture, BBC 2012
Jake, you get wise. You get to church. The Blues Brothers 1980 starring John Belushi & Dan Aykroyd & Steve Cropper & Donald Duck Dunn & Murphy Dunne & Willie Hall & Matt Murphy & Carrie Fisher & Ray Charles & John Candy & Aretha Franklin & Twiggy & James Brown & Henry Gibson et al, director John Landis, friend in basement
God is Here Every Sunday at 6.30 Come and Meet Him. Seven Days to Noon 1950 starring Barry Jones & Olive Sloane & Andre Morell & Sheila Manahan & Hugh Cross & Joan Hickson & Ronald Adam & Marie Ney & Wyndham Goldie & Russell Waters & Martin Boddey et al, director Roy and John Boulting, church sign
Whilst we have been building our churches and solacing ourselves with our religion and dreaming that the millennium was coming, the poor have been growing poorer, the wretched more miserable, and the immoral more corrupt; the gulf has been daily widening which separates the lowest classes of the community from our churches and chapels, and from all decency and civilisation. W C Preston, ‘The Bitter Cry of Outcast London: An Inquiry into the Conditions of the Abject Poor’, 1883, attributed
Lighthouses are more useful than churches. Benjamin Franklin
A fig for those by law protected!
Liberty’s a glorious feast!
Courts for cowards were erected,
Churches built to please the priest! Robert Burns, The Jolly Beggars
So the church has become a spectacle of marvelous beauty, overwhelming to those who see it, but to those who know it by hearsay altogether incredible. For it soars on high to match the sky, and as if surging up from amongst the other buildings it stands on high and looks down on the remainder of the city. Procopius A.D. c.499-565, of church of Hagia Sophia
[rises from aisle during service] Hello there, fellow holy bastards. I’m sorry I’m late but I was delayed you know, delayed on refreshment business followed by a small roughage incident. Rab C Nesbitt: Stool, BBC 2011
Having a minister that’s English and a woman it’s a kind of double whammy you know. ibid. Rab in church
I am withered like an old apple-john. Well, I’ll repent, and that suddenly, while I am in some liking. I shall be out of heart shortly, and then I shall have no strength to repent. And I have not forgotten what the inside of a church is made of. I am a peppercorn, a brewer’s horse – the inside of a church! Company, villainous company, hath been the spoil of me. William Shakespeare, I Henry IV III iii 4-10, Sir John to Russell