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From Leslie Griffiths, Methodist Minister:

My local pub is a great place but they鈥檙e closing it. They鈥檙e turning it into one of those gentrified eateries, a 鈥済astropub鈥� (horrible word!). Chris, you know about pubs, it鈥檚 a tough business but, to do this, they鈥檙e putting a little family onto the streets. Mum and dad have been landlords for over a quarter of a century; their three kids were all born and raised amongst us. Everyone鈥檚 heartbroken. Friday will be their last day.

Why do I call this pub a great place, I of all people? As I grew up, I heard many a story about pubs 鈥� hellish drinking holes, wicked places where men drank away the week鈥檚 wages, where the devil with his curled tail and menacing horns lurked seeking whom he might devour. That鈥檚 how I heard it in the years of my youth.

But my local knocks that perception stone dead. I鈥檓 a vicar and I can tell you that I want my church to be just like my pub. Anyone and everyone is welcome, real conversations take place, no distinctions are made on the basis of colour or class; you can be suited and booted, jeaned and jumpered, Oxbridge or 鈥極xton. The place is yours. Feel at home.

Bishops and archbishops and half the company of heaven have been meeting in Rome to decide whether they should change their attitudes to gay people, divorcees, and those who live together without being married. Should they admit such people to communion? Such a question never even occurs to our landlord; he and his family attend mass regularly but the things their bishops worry about hardly concern them. They admit the whole world to communion. They鈥檒l pull a pint, uncork a bottle, pour a lemonade for anyone and the fellowship they generate is palpable. I wish their bishops would learn from them.

But now, in the name of 鈥減rogress鈥�, we鈥檙e losing pubs. I can only wish them good luck and thank them for everything.