Church of St Edward the Confessor, Barlings

The Church of St Edward the Confessor in Barlings, Lincolnshire, is a queer-looking place when viewed from the side. This shows the stages of its construction judging by the various roof heights and window sizes. The west door has a rounded, Norman archway, and a blocked-up one in the south walls also appears 12th or 11th century (just visible towards the left). That it was dedicated to Edward the Confessor, last-but-one Saxon King of England, and who was the only king of England to be canonised, might suggest that it was first dedicated before the Norman Conquest in 1066. On the other hand, it might have been erected and named by folk enduring the Norman yoke who harked back to better times, when the English were free, and their kings were good, pious men. Dedicating the church to Edward might have been a gentle defiance of the Norman landlords. Then again, they too respected Edward’s vaunted saintliness and the name made little difference to whether their rents, taxes and tithes were paid.

Few modern churches in the Protestant tradition are dedicated to ancient saints or medieval kings, much less modern ones. May all of our churches be dedicated to King Jesus, however, and not just in name, but in obedience to His word. When our egos muscle into a congregation’s priorities, shoving aside the Lord’s honour and usurping His status, and using it as a platform for hobbyhorses, fashionable causes and unscriptural preoccupations, we rededicate it to ourselves, robbing Him whose Church it really is.

Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Ephesians 3:21

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