Morecambe's Central Methodist

Morecambe's Central Methodist Church, sometimes called Green Street Methodist Church, strikes me as one of those grand and opulent chapels of the denomination’s Victorian heyday. It is confident, bold and solid: three words that few would associate with the denomination of our own day. 'Wesleyan Methodist Chapel 1876' wraps around a central, circular window, while hefty pillars and columns support a stepped porchway beneath. This was once a thriving church, even in my own day, with certain attractive girls from school calling this their place of worship. It is not listed on the North Lancs Methodist District’s website, so its current closure seems certain. Morecambe might once have been described as a Methodist town, with chapels on every corner, but their fortunes, and those of the town itself, seem to have declined together.

Despite the solidity and sturdiness of the building, it is sound theology, a love of the Lord Jesus and a heart for the gospel which keeps church doors open and the seats occupied. Denying the virgin birth, obsessing over social concerns and twittering on about climate change are the most efficient and effective recipes for turning a grand and hallowed chapel into an empty shell of brick and stone.