The Lastingham Group of Churches

In 2007 we think Lastingham received around 16,000 visitors, and all five churches a total of 40,000, and each year we receive around 23 organised groups.

In a survey we conducted in 2002, the majority said they were seeking a place for quiet reflection, rather than showing an interest in buildings. They wanted to chill out and pray, not just visit a museum.

In the main handout there’s a list of things it is said visitors like to find.
I need not go through all of these now, but I’ll just highlight the following:

− - somewhere quiet to pray

− - suggestions for prayer

− - a place to write prayer requests

− - a simple free guide leaflet

− - flowers

Of the comments that visitors made in our own survey, the most consistent was the plea for the church to be kept open.

What is the deeper meaning of a visit to a church? We recall the words of the Letter to the Hebrews which reminds us that we are all strangers and pilgrims here on earth, in search of our heavenly country. You will also recall the legend of one of the Celtic Saints, St Brendan, who sets out on a voyage of pilgrimage to a mystical island in which the boundaries between earth and heaven meet.

Whether visitors are seeking the company of fellow pilgrims, or wanting solitude for quiet reflection, the ministry of every single church and holy place must be to help fulfil the quest of St Brendan’s voyage as he sailed to his mystical island.

A church by its architecture and its Liturgy speaks very precisely of the union of earth and heaven. It may also be a mystical and holy place because it is what we call a shrine.

Equally important, though, is that its holiness must be maintained, topped over the weeks, months and years, with the energy of prayer and worship. A shrine may sometimes seem to cease to be a holy place – as Jesus himself once said of specific places, including the Jerusalem Temple. A healthy life of prayer and fellowship among the people, securely centred on the celebration of the sacraments, will ensure even the most ordinary church building will be a holy place.

Parishes who receive pilgrims could consider going themselves on a pilgrimage or away-day each year. In this way their own church life, which may take considerable effort to maintain can be ‘defamiliarised’. On pilgrimage we are ministered to by another church, away from our taxing set of liturgical, pastoral and PCC responsibilities, and may thus be enables to renew our vision and energy.

The handout gives a few practical suggestions on how to how to look after groups of pilgrims.

To conclude. Kate Fox in her entertaining book Watching the English, asserts that Britain must be the least religious nation in the world (‘No religion, please, we’re British’); and even though Fox says the C of E is the least religious church in the world (!), nevertheless people still flock to our shrines and churches.

And here’s an interesting theory someone has proposed: In this aggressively secular age, religion is being preserved very largely by the successful protection and nurturing of churches as symbolic places.

Those of our visitors who are not impressed by Mission-Shaped Church may nevertheless relate to the words of Jacob after his vision of angels: How awesome is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. Our job it to see that it remains so!

© ASF 2008