During a family holiday through the North Island I couldn’t help but take note of the number of church cafés. I’m not talking about churches that have cafés, I’m talking about churches that ARE cafés!

We stopped at one of the bigger and better known ones in the centre of Cambridge and enjoyed a nice lunch there. It was very busy with a queue at the café counter, while in the front of the old church a souvenir/arts shop was also doing a brisk trade.

Other communities we drove through also had churches that have morphed into either cafés or some sort of art gallery/shop.

I suppose it’s nice that these old church buildings are being used for something, otherwise they may well end up being demolished. What is sad, of course, is that they are not being used for what they were built for – the gathering of community to worship the Lord Jesus Christ.

I’d like to think communities are worshipping elsewhere, perhaps in more suitable modern buildings, but sadly I suspect not.

The story of the Anglican church in a small village close to where my family lives is more likely to be typical of what has happened elsewhere. In this instance the local parish decided to sell the building – the village’s only church and probably one of the oldest buildings.

There was an uproar in the community: “It’s our church, our fathers and grandfathers built it with their own hands, you have no right to sell it!” was the sentiment expressed.

But the Anglicans no longer had a worshipping community in the village and the old building was greatly under-utilised, so how can you blame the parish for selling the church and using the money for other projects?

Communities love their old churches. Family members are acknowledged on the walls of these buildings. Ancestors are buried in the church grounds. But the bottom line is our country has moved away from God and these buildings are not used for their intended purpose.

Often the church is either next to, or near to, a community hall. During our trip I also noted that in many cases the halls, too, were showing signs of being past their used-by date – derelict, badly in need of a coat of paint, and obviously very rarely used.

Again, I can speak from experience with my own community where there has been simmering debate for many years on what these under-utilised old halls should be used for and who should pay for their upkeep. As with the church building, these halls are no longer the focal point of communities.

We live in the age of cheap and fast transport, of email and internet, of Facebook and cellphones. There isn’t the need to gather together to share information or enjoy companionship.

The news isn’t all bad. Just as churches are being converted into cafés, the same is happening in reverse. We Baptists, especially, are very adept at taking buildings that were once used for other purposes and turning them into churches!

But I still have a sense that church buildings – old or new – are no longer at the very heart of their communities. There was a time in our history when the church and the community hall were among the first half dozen or so buildings erected. They were the lifeblood of a community.

Now, when a developer puts up a plan for a new community, a supermarket or shopping mall is most likely to be the focal point.

Church buildings do not a church make, but I can’t help but think their declining importance in the fabric of our communities is somewhat indicative of the declining relevance of Jesus Christ in the lives of the people who live there.

– Duncan Pardon