St Kentigern’s, Caldbeck

St Kentigern’s Church at Caldbeck in Cumbria is not one of those squat but charming old churches for which Lakeland is known, but is rather tall and graceful. To enter, one must pass a rounded, twelfth-century doorway, which contemporaries might have considered to be the height of fashion or even ostentation, much like those churches from 2000 which built cafes and sofa zones for their congregants to lounge in. Within, the church is also pleasantly decorated, with a number of carefully carved pillars.

Churches ought to be welcoming and to appear attractive to outsiders, much like Caldbeck’s church porch. Holy huddles, gossip shops, cliques and weirdos: none make the local church an attractive proposition to people seeking a place to worship. On the other hand, there is a price to pay for proffered warmth. Making everyone welcome means that the disagreeable, the obnoxious and the self-aggrandiser automatically feel at home, and soon try to call the shots. We can only hope that the preaching of God’s pure word will alter this behaviour and address the damaged hearts from which it springs.

May all people find churches attractive, the doorways beautiful, the insides a place they might call home, but may pride, bitterness, selfishness and backbiting be left where they belong- in the gutter, outside.