English Parish Churches

Is there any point nowadays in an English Parish Church? This is a difficult question for those of us who learned that 'church' means people and not the steeple house, as we referred to it.
And I still believe that.
And where we are, in a combined parish of nine churches whose upkeep drains all resources, and inspires constant fund-raisers, we ask ourselves the question even more.
But yesterday I went on a lone long walk and discovered two uses.



As a family historian, in villages where ancestors' homes may never be known,
you can at least see the churches where you can be sure they were for three
times in their lives.




And, inside or out, they provide a cool and restful place for the weary walker. One might even think and pray there.....