I'm sitting outside Dunfermline Abbey. I'd been looking forward to seeing inside and praying in what, by all accounts, is a smashing church. But I'll never know, because although the church shuts at 4.30pm, and although last entry is at 4.00pm, and although I turned up with a couple of minutes to spare before 4.00, I found the door literally being closed and locked in my face.
I protested, of course. The fella locking the door shrugged. "I've already turned off the till, so I can't process any more entries." This, mind you, for a church which has free entry.
I've lost count of the number of locked churches I've visited here now. Just this morning I passed a notice someone had added to a road sign post. "CHURCH" it shouted excitedly, pointing to the right and telling me it was only 1/4 mile away. I detoured. Surely if they were making the effort to point out the church it would be open. But, bad luck, no.
Honestly, I'm feeling a bit glum about it all as I sit and write this. Everywhere else I've been on my pilgrimages this summer - France, Switzerland, Italy and England - I've been surrounded by beautiful churches and the majority of them have been open. It's been great. But, for reasons I don't understand, every church door I've tried in Scotland has been shut.
I'm giving up here. Time to find a place to camp and hope for better fortunes tomorrow.
Vandalism, fire risk and general history of mistreatment of the buildings will be the reason 😕🙄
ReplyDeleteYeah, I know. Sadly, though, most evidence suggests that unlocked churches are usually safer (since they're more frequented). The only time I ever had an arson attempt on a church in my care (in nearly 30 years of ministry) was when it was locked. Ditto thefts, and ditto all but petty vandalism. On the other hand, the benefits of opening the building were incalculable.
DeleteAnd there was I thinking it was Covid that had closed all the doors when we toured in 2020!
ReplyDelete