Burnham: let's turn churches into gyms

Churches with diminished congregations which are falling into disuse should be transformed into secular spaces such as gyms, restaurants and multi-faith centres, Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary, suggested yesterday.

Mr Burnham said that while it was important to preserve the architectural splendour of the nation's churches, many of which have listed status, they might in some cases serve the community better by becoming secular spaces rather than "museum pieces" which few people visited.

"We need to preserve our churches," he said, adding that where there were good congregations they should be kept as viable places of worship. "If not," he added, "we need to find new purposes with the support of the local community and we need to increase secular interest in our church heritage."

Mr Burnham's comments follow his suggestion that libraries might benefit from being modernised and possibly being rid of the silence rule, as revealed by The Independent earlier this month.

One of the best examples of transforming a church space, he said yesterday, was the recent multimillion pound renovation of All Souls Church in Bolton, an Anglican church which had "lost its traditional congregation and found a new multifaith, multi-racial community to serve".

"My department worked with the Church Conservation Trust (CCT) to save All Souls," said Mr Burnham. "The CCT came up with a brilliant solution. The community did not need a museum piece but they did need somewhere to meet. They needed a gym, a health centre, space for community education and space for inter-faith learning."

He said he had gained some personal insight into the issue when he recently visited a former church, St Peter's in Liverpool, that had been transformed into a themed restaurant and bar called Alma De Cuba in 2005. "My mum said the last time she set foot in the building was 40 years ago for confession," he said. "Not everyone will be happy with that transformation. Part of me was uneasy but to her credit, my mum, a good Scouse Catholic, shrugged and raised a glass."

A spokesman for the Church of England said Mr Burnham's suggestion applied to a minority of its 10,000 churches that were deemed redundant – only 30 a year.

He said the church's emphasis would be on attempts to reinvigorate the number of worshippers before seeking alternative uses for churches.