Appletreewick Church

I called at the church of St John the Baptist last month in the delightfully named Yorkshire village of Appletreewick. I did not know there was even a church there till someone at Hetton pointed it out. It looked intriguing: a low, seventeenth-century construction with a 1635 date stone. Few churches were built at that time, so this promised to be interesting. A sign by the main entrance said 'Open Today'. Sadly, that day it was not open. Locked and secured, the lying sign had either not been changed or it referred to some other village amenity, such as the road or the sky. I will confess to feeling rather disappointed. Had the sign not been there, I would have greeted the locked door with an air of stoic resignation; for having had my hopes raised, it was only disappointment I felt.

Later research shows that although it was indeed from the 1630s, it only became a church in the 1890s, so the insides would have been rather less interesting than I imagined. Nevertheless, I departed in bad grace: the church was not open when it claimed to be.

It is not just village churches which are less open than they claim. Hearts can be closed, too, even when their owners declare their openness. Writes the apostle to the Corinthians:

Open your hearts to us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have cheated no one. 2:7:2

He had previously stated:

O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. 2:6:11

May God deliver us from closed churches, but even more so from closed hearts.