Holy Trinity Church, Bradford-on-Avon

Holy Trinity in Wiltshire’s delightful town of Bradford-on-Avon is an ancient church dating back to 1150, yet it is not the oldest in the vicinity; its Saxon neighbour across the street might be two centuries older.  Nevertheless, it boasts some extant medieval paintings as well as a peculiar, haughty-looking medieval woman carved into a stone wall. Memorials hang from every space, and statues of departed local dignitaries gaze down at the living.

Yet this is no dusty museum, for the church authorities flogged a Flemish masterpiece 2016 which funded a £2m refurbishment. The dark, old pews were removed which makes the nave seem airy, light and spacious, instead of cluttered with uncomfortable seating, seldom used.

Another peculiarity is the carved scripture verses snaking down the nave’s pillars. "Be of good cheer”, the words of the Lord Jesus are quoted, "for I have overcome the world”. Timeless, indeed.

There are some who will walk into an ancient church like this, or even a Georgian chapel like our Salem, and dismiss it as antiquarian leftover from another age. Yet the Gospel message is as new and fresh today as ever it was. Others will enter modern church premises and write them off as newfangled nonsense or novel tosh. Yet if those churches are faithful to scripture, their shiny plastic pulpits proclaim a message that is even older than the hills of earth and the stars of heaven.

The gospel is timeless, and its acceptance or rejection are eternal.

But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children. Psalm 103:17