Mathew Lyons

Britain’s churches need us to survive – but do we still need them?

Attendance is in serious decline, but our churches have much to offer, especially in times of crisis, and we neglect their crumbling fabric at our peril

Part of the wall painting depicting the Last Judgment in St Mary’s Church, Houghton on the Hill, Norfolk. [Alamy] 
issue 13 May 2023

In the summer of 1992, Gloria Davey came upon a ruined church near Swaffham in Norfolk. It had no roof, no windows and no door. Satanists were using it for their rites; a grave had been opened, giving up its bones. Gloria’s husband Bob felt obliged to act. He disrupted their rituals, and when they threatened to kill him, he called in the local Territorial Army.

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