Why we are consulting you, and frequently asked questions (FAQs)

AND

YOUR questions answered

The St Botolph’s church leadership has embarked on a consultation with local residents and interest groups in and around Aspley Guise to raise awareness, gather feedback, and build support for the future use of St Botolph’s Church, ensuring it continues to serve both as a place of worship and as a valued part of the wider community and retain its qualities as the oldest building in the village.

Our church has long been at the heart of Aspley Guise as a place of worship and a community landmark. Across British society, especially in rural communities, traditional religious participation has been in decline, and church congregations are getting older. St Botolph’s is therefore adopting new approaches to our Christian ministry but also exploring fresh ways for our church building to serve the community alongside Christian worship.

This consultation is an opportunity to listen to the community before any decisions are made, and to explore how the church might also support wider community needs alongside its core role as a place of Christian worship.

Frequently asked questions

Question 1

Is the church at risk of closure?

Answer 1: There is no immediate threat to the future of St Botolph’s Church but like many rural parishes the congregation is quite small and getting older. Only a very small proportion of local residents use the church. We are acting now to attract new residents to use the church and ensure it has a long term future at the heart of our community.

Question 2

Who is responsible for the future of the church and who owns it?

Answer 2: The local parish church is controlled locally by the Parochial Church Council (PCC), within the legal framework of the diocese and the Church of England. The national Church of England does not own or fund local churches. The PCC acts as “trustee” of the church and is responsible for securing its future.

Question 3

Why is this consultation happening now?

Answer 3: The St Botolph’s PCC recognised that the long term future of the church depends on attracting new residents to use the church, both for religious worship but also for other community purposes. We recognised that we needed to consult with local residents and stakeholders to identify whether broadening the use of the church will attract new users to secure our future beyond the lifetime of the predominantly elderly congregation. We know any change may take several years to implement so we chose to act now whilst we still have time.

Question 4

Who is running the consultation and what is their link to the church?

Answer 4: The PCC has appointed a Review Team comprised of two PCC members and three committed local residents with expertise in charity governance, business planning, change leadership and project management. They have been given delegated authority to deliver the consultation on behalf of the PCC, subject to regular sign-off of plans and communications about the project. The teams’ mandate and terms of reference are set by the PCC which ultimately decides the future of the church.

Question 5

Will the church remain a place of worship?

Answer 5: Yes. A very clear objective of the review is to ensure the sustainability of St Botolph’s as a place of worship. We think the best way to do this is to broaden the use of the church to allow a wider range of community activities which will increase participation at all levels from members of the local community. Any changes to the building and its use must be compatible with its continued function as a church.

Question 6

Are changes to the building being considered?

Answer 6: Yes. We are looking at similar projects being undertaken in other rural churches. In many cases changes to the building are aimed at improving access, improving amenities such as heating, toilets and catering; and making the space more flexible to accommodate community activities. The purpose of the consultation is to find out what use of the church local residents and stakeholders would support. However, any changes to the building must be compatible with or enhance the primary use of the church as a place of worship. It should also be noted that the building of the Link Room in the late 1990s and the recent Tower Restoration means we are starting from a good place.

Question 7

How would any changes be funded?

Answer 7: Based on similar projects in other parishes, we anticipate that the changes needed may require investment of perhaps several hundred thousand pounds. This would entail a major fundraising campaign, including applications to major grant awarding trusts whose charitable objects are to support rural church sustainability and community impact. A key purpose of the Consultation Programme is to demonstrate community support for widening the use of St Botolph’s to justify the fundraising campaign.

Question 8

Will this compete with the Village Hall?

Answer 8: The Village Hall charity is one of the stakeholders we will be consulting as our aim is to widen the amenities in the village rather than duplicate existing provision. We are looking to broaden the use of the church and make use of its unique historic architecture.

Question 9

How will parking and access be managed?

Answer 9: Parking is currently very limited, so we need to explore the scope for improving this if we are to significantly increase footfall and the scale/frequency of community events at St Botolph’s.

Question 10

What are the risks to investing in the future of the church and who would bear them if the planned financial income is not forthcoming?

Answer 10: The PCC has a duty to control the resources of the church responsibly and manage the risk of any new investment. The St Albans Diocese will only give consent for changes to the building if a rigorous governance process is satisfied. Also, the Grant Awarding Bodies who will contribute to funding expect to see a very solid business case to underpin any investment, including evidence that the changes will unlock new income streams to cover the ongoing costs of operations.

Question 11

Why hasn’t the Village Hall already picked up some of the opportunities identified as potential activities for the church – where relevant?

Answer 11: St Botolph’s is a unique historic building that can accommodate uses that are not suitable in the Village Hall. Where there is an overlap, we wish to work with the Village Hall Charity to ensure we are collectively increasing the amenities in the village.

Question 12

How can I get involved?

Answer 12: We need to recruit new volunteers to manage and deliver any new community activities at St Botolph’s as the existing PCC and church volunteers are themselves getting older and much work falls on few shoulders. An important aim of the Consultation is to identify volunteers to actively lead any new activities which local residents wish to see. Our web site and engagement events provide opportunities for such volunteers to step forward – we cannot do any of this without you!

Question 13

Who will make decisions and when?

Answer 13: Only the PCC can decide on the future of the St Botolph’s and no decisions will be made without their agreement. The Review Team aims to conclude the Consultation in November 2026 and it is for the PCC to decide on how to proceed after that.

Question 14

How will feedback be used?

Answer 14: In the first instance the feedback from the consultation will be reviewed by the PCC who will determine the next steps. But we expect the findings, conclusions and any next steps to be shared with those who responded to the consultation in due course. Assuming we proceed with a fundraising campaign the consultation evidence will be vital in attracting grant funding.

Question 15

When will we know what’s happening and decisions have been made?

Answer 15: It is for the PCC to decide how to respond to the consultation, but we expect the findings, conclusions and any next steps to be shared with those who responded to the consultation in November 2026.

Question 16

Will this FAQ section be updated as the consultation moves foward?

Answer 16: New issues and questions undoubtedly will, and should arise, over the period of the consultation and we will keep the whole website, but especially this section, regularly updated

Go to the Consultation Survey

YOUR questions answered

The points below have been raised by YOU from the community survey. We have responded to these important issues and strongly encourage increased engagement and debate.

The sustainability team does not have all the answers but it has identified some of the key questions and risks that face our church. It has also proferred some solutions but it recognises that the best solutions will come from our community, a community that is fully engaged. Without the engagement of enough of our community, the best plans and intentions in the world, will go nowhere and there is a very real risk out beautiful church will go the way of so many across the country.

Q1: Is this truly about widening community involvement, or are there commercial considerations also at play? If the latter, the consultation needs to be explicit about this from the outset.

A1: There are no commercial considerations behind the sustainability review, except that whatever we do needs to be financially sustainable. As the congregation has diminished the church no longer raises sufficient funds from its members to cover the costs of running the church. For several years the running costs have relied upon grants from a Trust set up by historic legacies that are themselves running down.

Given the age profile of the congregation, there is a likelihood that this shortfall will increase over time so we must look to attracting new people to use the church and new sources of income.

But in the end, it is for the PCC and church membership to make decisions about this future of the church. The review team is here to advise and run the consultation on behalf of the PCC, but we cannot make these decisions for the church.

Q2:

(a) Need to consider additional car parking if activities at the church are going to increase usage (as hoped).

(b) Parking is a problem if use is widened.

A2: Car parking is a huge obstacle to widening the use of the church, so you are right to flag this as a concern. This scale of this problem is masked by the fact that the number of users of the church has declined so much over time. If we are to reverse this decline, we must find a solution to parking.

Q3:

(a) For several years now the upstairs room above the Community Link Room has not been used, it is an asset which we have failed to use. Renting out this space should be a top priority as it would resolve any financial problems we may have now and in the future.

(b) None of the [proposed new] events/activities [should take place] in the body of the Church. However, the Link Room was built to provide a space for [these].

(c) the Room [above the existing Link Room] should be fully utilised to be producing income for St Botolph's.
(d) The Link Room was built to provide a space for all the above. Community events, health and well being activities, children's groups all used to take place very successfully in the Link Room and could do so again. I do not support using the body of the Church for these activities.

A3: We are very lucky to have the Link Room, and it is an asset we must make better use of. But it will not alone sustain the church in the face of the ageing and declining church membership. Furthermore, it is the beauty, scale, historic significance and acoustics of the main church that is the greatest asset. . We have seen many examples of churches exploiting the historic building without diminishing its use for religious worship.

Q4: I would prefer to see the church used to promote things connected with the religious beliefs it was created to reflect.

A4: Nothing will be proposed by the Review which will diminish the use of the church for religious worship. But it is clear that the churchgoing population in the area has declined enormously in recent years, as it has elsewhere in the UK. Given the age structure of the present congregation, we must look to wider uses if we are to preserve the church for our village.

Q5: Although I am an atheist, I think Churches are an important part of a village's history, and they should be integrated into the community. It shouldn't compete with the village hall though.

A5: We would like to work with the Village Hall charity to try to ensure both assets can thrive alongside one another. We must look to new community services/activities that at present neither the Village Hall nor the Church offer today.

Q6: [Ought we] consider the Status Quo as a valid even desirable option?

A6: The PCC asked us to explore alternative community uses of St Botolph’s Church, alongside continued Christian Worship, because the Discovery Phase of the Review demonstrated that the ageing and declining congregation places our long term viability at risk if we rely solely on the status quo. The Review Team advise that the best way of securing viable Christian Worship at St Botolph’s in the longer term is to broaden the range of activities in Church to attract greater community participation and fundraising in future.

Other ideas for community activities that could take place at St Botolph’s suggested by our survey respondents:

Mindfulness/ meditation sessions.
A place where the history of the village and church can be explored.
High value, low volume trade/profession eg hairdresser, accountant, solicitor, management consultant.
Live gigs with a bar, non seated, DJ, open mic nights etc.
I would love to see Yoga/Senior exercise. I spoke to someone recently that said there was a 3 year waiting list for a class in Woburn Sands. It would be good if there could be a day class (older people would prefer to go out in the day, especially in winter) I would certainly participate.
A library / small village shop.
Summer fair / craft fair.
Gardening and outside space community outreach