COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

It’s not worth keeping old buildings warm for limited use, says cleric spearheading Church of England’s net zero drive



Vicars have been told to give parishioners blankets to keep them warm instead of heating the churches.

The Rev Giles Goddard [pictured], who has helped to spearhead the Church of England’s 2030 Net Zero campaign, says that heating old stone churches is economically “not worth it”.

“The mantra now is: heat the people not the space,” said the Rev Goddard, whose own church, St John’s Church, Waterloo, which was built in the early 19th century, has had a £6 million green transformation.

“You can’t warm up a 13th-century building for an hour and a half a week – it’s just not worth it.”

Parishes have been urged to work towards the target of carbon neutrality by removing oil and gas boilers, installing solar panels and divesting from fossil fuels.

While they have been urged to replace fossil fuels entirely, install energy-efficient LED lighting, use green electricity tariffs, and fix broken windows to reach the goal, many have struggled to do so.

In 2022, the CofE hired Wall Street finance firms to advise on funding as it borrowed money to fund the initiative.

A source told The Telegraph last year that some cathedrals were finding it especially difficult because “they are old buildings and not energy-efficient”, with heat pumps struggling to keep large spaces warm.

Justifying his own church’s “green” makeover, the Rev Goddard stressed that St John’s is used for a range of activities throughout the week.

“We are used all the time so it’s worth heating the whole space, but this doesn’t apply to places with high roofs and a lot of cold stone that can never be properly heated,” he told The Times.

Parishioners told The Telegraph that the Anglican church’s unwillingness to deviate from the policy posed a grave threat to the historic church building as well as the spiritual and physical health of its elderly congregation.

The months without heating have allowed damp to penetrate the church walls, damaging carvings and books.

Visitor numbers are down after previously hitting a high of 33,000 a year, and elderly congregants who have braved services wearing two coats and mufflers now face another winter sitting in the cold in the church.