IT is a sad commentary on our society that everywhere the doors of churches are locked except for services - when once they were open all day.

They offered their communities and passers-by the opportunity of private prayer or quiet reflection.

Yet, in an increasingly brutalised world, churches are no longer sacred, but are targets for thieves and vandals. As a result, they have become bolted and barred.

What a loss this is - when people who want to go to church are deprived of the peace and sanctuary they offer from life's cares and worries.

And, as the Bishop of Blackburn, the Right Rev Alan Chesters, rightly remarks today, a closed church is a contradiction..."a negative parable," he says, "able to be freed among friends only one holy day out of seven."

How welcome, then, is his determination that the Blackburn Diocese shall strive to undo the locks and bolts so that churches can once again offer a Christian welcome every day. The Bishop wants churches to set up "protection teams" so that the doors can be re-opened and the buildings and their property still be kept safe.

Every parish has its stalwarts; the dedicated believers who help their priest and gladly give of their time and effort as repayment for what their church and faith gives to them.

It is evidently to these people that Bishop Chesters is looking as he makes his call to parishes to find ways of keeping open the church buildings of the diocese.

We hope his plea is answered and copied across the country - so that not only are the church sanctuaries of private worship and contemplation restored on a wide scale, but also so that a positive and visible step is taken back to the era and the values that were symbolised by an ever-open church door.

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