St Mary’s Church, Ulverston

St Mary’s Parish Church in the Lancashire-North-of-the-Sands town of Ulverston I saw last month. It is a pleasant building, and one which is kept open mid-week. I enjoyed looking around while a friendly church member rested from her vacuuming.

The various sources cannot agree on the dating of it; the restorers have done such a good job (or such a bad job), that one cannot tell what is old and what is restored. Only the tower can be safely said to be sixteenth century, while the south door appears to be twelfth, though rebuilt and relocated. All very confusing.

Inside, a sixteenth-century tomb belonging to William Sandys claims to have been erected in 1558, but the large metallic lettering around its perimeter and the neatness of the carving made me suspect that it was a Victorian replica or earnest replacement.

We church aficionados and historians assume that 'older' means 'authentic', and this is usually the case. Yet authenticity regarding the gospel and the Christian message is only ever bound up to faithfulness to the scriptures. A run-down gospel hall or housechurch meeting in a Council flat which teaches the Bible is truer and more authentic than some great basilica or cathedral which looks the part but has drifted out of the way of the Lord.

For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth. Psalm 33:4

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