EMPTY CHURCHES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 3447, 19 November 1932, Page 4

EMPTY CHURCHES.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —Situated in the heart of old Saxon England, surrounded by centuries of historical moment at Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral, the old Roman settlement of Sarum, surrounded by the monuments of the ancient British Druids, stands a little old stone Church of England. Covered with ivy, grey with age, it seems to defy the past centuries. The first item that attracted me was the inscription, “Fear God and Honour the King.” This little place of worship is only some 1300 years old. At the morning and evening services the church is packed, not a vacant seat. They say comparisons are odious. But I am not apologising-. Seated in this pretty little church at Pio Pio Sunday after Sunday, I often wonder the reason for the empty seats. Bishop Cherrington tells us that the Church is not dead or decadent. But if empty seats are any criterion the average churchgoer seems to be drifting that way. It seems a pity, after creating a temple to the glory of God that the builders fail to carry on the good work; hence the empty seats. Oh, for a little of the spirit which animates some of those old churches in England, where they fill the seats. Fear God and honour the King.—l am, etc., J. DIXON. Pio Pio, 15/11/32.