Dear friends,
Church buildings have had and continue to have some unusual uses. It is not uncommon today to find church buildings converted into houses and apartments or repurposed for a myriad of different commercial endeavours – restaurants, recording studios, shops; the list seems endless. Throughout history, churches have been employed as courtrooms, schools and libraries. Church buildings have hosted community meetings and political rallies and have been used for casting votes during elections. Churches have been the site of debates, both religious and secular, hosted plays and concerts and been the venue of all kinds of festivities. The first church buildings weren’t churches at all but rooms in people’s homes that had, in some cases, been enlarged so the congregation could meet. It wasn’t until the nineteenth century that Anglican churches ceased to be multifunction community centres and became used exclusively for religious services.
One of the more unusual roles of church buildings was as places of legal sanctuary. As a sacred place, churches were sites that fugitives from the law were immune to arrest (a legal precedent recognized under English law from the fourth to the seventeenth century). For those wishing to escape the long arm of the law, this practice has been abolished in the United Kingdom and never had any legal standing in Australia, either before or after Federation.
One of the more celebrated cases of people claiming sanctuary occurred in the English Wars of the Roses which took place in the fifteenth century. Elizabeth Woodville, queen consort of Edward IV, twice escaped her husband’s political rivals by claiming sanctuary in Westminster Abbey and living there in royal comfort. During her first confinement, when her husband was in exile, she gave birth to her first son by the king, Edward, who would later become Edward V. Edward IV was restored to the throne upon the death of Henry VI in 1471 and she moved out of the abbey into royal accommodation.
When King Edward IV died in 1483, Elizabeth, who was deeply unpopular with both the Lancastrians and the Yorkists, was more in need of sanctuary than ever. Elizabeth took her five daughters and her youngest son, Richard, Duke of York, and again sought sanctuary from her persecutors in Westminster Abbey. Here she remained until March 1484, only leaving the abbey when the current king, Richard III, promised not to harm or imprison her or her daughters. During her residence in the abbey, Elizabeth retained all the trappings and comforts of the royal household. It is reported that she brought so much furniture and so many chests of goods that workmen had to break holes in some of the walls of the abbey to move everything into her chambers.
The Church of the Good Shepherd has had no such illustrious personages claiming sanctuary within its walls or living in its confines. We do have several lizards that occasionally seek sanctuary from various predators in the church. They have been known to run across the front of the church in the middle of the sermon and provide a modest surprise to preacher and parishioner alike.
Churches have become places of sanctuary in another sense, a place to seek refuge from the cares and concerns of life. People often find the quiet interiors of a church building soothing and a relief from the hectic pace of modern life. Sadly, most churches are no longer able to leave their building open for this purpose due to the risk of vandalism and theft.
Sanctuary is synonymous with the protection and safeguard provided by God to his people. In the Old Testament, God is described as the strength and refuge of his people. In the New Testament, it is Jesus who makes our refuge in God possible. The sanctuary that the church provided for people fleeing from the law in medieval times is a foreshadowing of the sanctuary that God grants to all those who find their forgiveness in him.
In the coming months, we hope to be able to open the Church of the Good Shepherd one or more mornings each week, so people may find a quiet place to take a break from the hectic busyness of life, a place to pray and contemplate life and hopefully a place of sanctuary and rest for the souls of those who are weary.
Yours in Christ,
Andrew
