Letheringham Church

The Church of St Mary at Letheringham, Suffolk, used to be much greater and grander than it now is. Once, a wealthy priory, now a humble parish church struggling to muster a congregation. Once, it was entered by a fine brick gatehouse; now one must drive around a farmyard. Its footprint is much smaller than its former incarnation, and the contents within give it the air of a museum rather than a place of worship. Medieval brasses of grim-looking knights stare out, while ornate Elizabethans peer down from their niches.

Much as I liked the historical interest and atmosphere of antiquity, I resolved never to allow Salem Chapel to become like this: backward-looking, in awe of the past, a shadow of its former self. Although chapels’ fortune wax and wane, and evangelical currents ebb as well as flow, I pray that God keeps our lamp stand shining bright. Let the ghosts of yesteryear spook whom they will, let the dust of past generations gather into heaps -but not among us.