St Peter's Church, Chesil

St Peter's Church, Chesil, in the Hampshire city of Winchester, is one of those older churches which has been put to secular use. I don’t particularly mind this and find it less offensive than converting into a non-Christian shrine or a carpark. It is now known as the Chesil Theatre, the home of the Winchester Dramatic Society. I rather like the look of it.

I was unable to gain entry, but suspect there would have been little of ecclesiastical value worth seeing. I recalled my pastor telling me, as a teenager when we discussed my role in a school play, that he ‘used drama’ when he preached. He was a good preacher and none snored in his sermons like some do in mine. On the hand, theatricality is a negative term we might apply, meaning something appears staged, artificial or fake, or it is ‘over the top’. Can our preachers be dramatic without being theatrical? It is a matter of taste, I dare say. The real gospel of Jesus Christ needs no manmade artistry or colouring to make it more wonderful; nor must we deaden people’s hearts to it by presenting it in a drab and dreary manner, when it is anything but!

And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:1,2

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