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Dear Friends, I hope you all managed to enjoy something during the summer – the weather notwithstanding. I certainly enjoyed my holiday, though it seems a while back now. While on holiday, we were in Italy, we did a lot of Church visiting. I suppose one does in Italy. Judging by the fact that we rarely entered a church that was empty, and often they were heaving with people, it’s not just ‘one’ that does, but hundreds of others. Italian churches are full of wonderful works of art of course, so that explains many of the visitors. On the other hand when we used to go to Sweden for our holidays, we follow our eldest son round Europe and holiday wherever he is working, the same phenomena was noticeable. It set me thinking. Coming back to Dunblane I had a closer look at our visitors’ book. It contains the names of folk from all over the world, who have dropped in to our church. The vast majority of them I never see. They come and go and sign our book. Probably a lot more come and go who do not sign the book. Why do churches exert this attraction for people?OK we can be cynical and say it’s just somewhere to look around, another site – an historical/religious theme park. But people, presumably don’t look round the towns’ libraries or other municipal buildings in the same way. Some people will undoubtedly view churches as if they were museums. I remember being in York Minster a few years back and sitting down beside two middle-aged ladies to listen to the 5 minute prayer slot that a clergyman was taking. ‘Ee’ said one to the other ‘ are they turning this back into a church, do you think?’ But cynicism aside, I was struck by the numbers who did spend time in prayer, by the candles lit as prayers for those in need, by the depth of thought reflected in the faces of many. In these days of almost contempt for Church as an institution, many people visit, perhaps from mixed reasons, perhaps from reasons they could not themselves articulate. Yet for many I think there is a sense of spiritual desire, however vaguely understood. Our churches might not always be as full as we could wish on a Sunday, but those that are open are often used by more folk than we realise as a place for prayer – as a shrine. We do not have the problems that face many famous churches, in dealing with vast numbers of visitors, and with the sheer wear and tear on the building this causes, but we do have the opportunity to see our church as a shrine for those who are not part of the congregation. Perhaps the building, with its years of prayers and services can be seen as a means of pointing people Godwards. We who are privileged to call St Mary’s our home church also have an obligation to maintain it as part of the mission of the churches in Dunblane to all. How does our church speak to people of God and can we increase the likelihood of their finding Our Lord here? Reflect for a while on what you are doing when you visit other churches. You may surprise yourself with the answers. Janice |