They came into church ready to reach the South Pole. Puffy jackets, ski gloves, big beanies, and thick scarves. As regulars they were armed with hard won knowledge of just how cold church could be.
The broken switchboard in the choir vestry was testament to the previous existence of some kind of under pew heating system. That had been replaced by the ‘chicken shop’ radiators bolted to the walls. Their crackling red light threw out an empty promise of warmth. Despite their ineffectiveness, groups would huddle together around each one, in the hope of some heat.
Last week we turned on the new gas furnace. For the first winter service in years nobody noticed the temperature. No more automatic apology spiels to guests about their frostbite.
Why did it take so long to change things? Three simple reasons: we got used to it, it cost money to fix it, and it involved change.
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