OCTOBER 2001
The church is not particularly large but feels cavernous; it could accommodate scores more people than were there on Sunday. It smells musty but somehow homely. Though sparsely decorated it is colourful and warm. The church is on Fishergate, where, two centuries ago, religious feelings were so strong, officials had to force Catholic and Protestant marchers apart. Today, fluorescent signs on the church doorstep implore passers-by to come inside. All in vain. The queue for Kentucky Fried Chicken stretches out the door.
Churches across the country last week reported congregations 30 per cent larger in the month since the terrorist attacks in America. But in Preston, a town so rich in Christian history, it seems even a less secure world is not making us turn to religion.
�I don�t find people do turn to God or find solace in religion at times like these,� says Reverend Neil Jones after the service. �If anything it�s the opposite; people just don�t understand how God could let such a thing happen.�
Of the seven who throng into Fishergate Baptist Church on Sunday, nobody looks below 60. This is just one church. It is just one grey and rainy Sunday. But it provides a snapshot of Christianity�s struggle for relevancy. Mr Jones preaches enthusiastically over a loud speaker in a manner more usually seen at a rock concert but this congregation has heard it all before. Hymns are sung with spirit but horribly out-of-tune voices echo embarrassingly around the empty spaces. Prayers are said for the �victims in Afghanistan and those who are apprehensive in America�. At last, some relevancy. Someone puts a �10 note into the collection tin as if to compensate for something.
It was not always like this. Preston�s very name means �town of priests�. You could be forgiven for thinking the terrorism could have encouraged some sort of spiritual revival. As Preston developed, its importance as a centre for Christianity grew. By the industrial revolution it was the largest Catholic enclave in England because of its links with the linen trade in Ireland. Irish immigration ensured religious fervour and a passionate dose of sectarianism was never far away.
But times change. Church is now merely a sideshow with a fluorescent sign. If conflict in the Middle East is forcing many to re-examine their faith around the world, here, not only have the �dark, satanic mills� gone, so have the regular churchgoers. Preston is no Jerusalem.
As the Church empties on Sunday, Mr Jones looks sadly towards the door and tries to explain why the congregation is not larger. �I just don�t think God plays a part in many people�s lives these days�, he says wearily.
But perhaps the Church has little to worry about. According to the Bishop of Chester, people in Preston �fall from religion and refuse to come to church�. And he said that in 1570.
ENDS
This backgrounder follows reports in the national press on October 11 2001 about Christian church attendances having risen nationwide since September 11.
(500 words)
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