Sheikh Helps Cornish Village Buy Methodist Chapel to Turn Into a Community Center
A small Cornish village in southwest England has found an unlikely source of funds for its pet project. The ruler of Dubai has helped the community buy a Methodist chapel to turn it into a full-fledged community center.
Godolphin Cross, a village of around 150 homes, was looking to buy the chapel which is the only community space in the village. The Methodist church announced it would sell the property in 2015 and the chapel last April. The villagers collected £25,000 of the £90,000 needed, but they cannot raise sufficient funds elsewhere.
As a last ditch attempt, the villagers tried soliciting money from the Sheikh, pointing out the link between their village of around 150 homes and the Godolphin stables run by the emir. All the sheik's horses were descendants of the legendary Godolphin Arabian bred in 1724 by the second earl of that village.
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"We thought nothing of it and then we began to get phone calls from Dubai," said Richard Mckie, chairman of the Godolphin Cross Community Association about their solicitation.
Mckie wouldn't reveal how much was donated, but he said, "it has pushed us across the line." With its problem of acquiring the property solved, the community now shifts its focus on raising another £300,000 to renovate the chapel and convert into a community center.
The Methodist Church is one of the denominations seriously hit by dwindling attendance in places of worship which reflected the declining role of religion in Europe. If the alarming trend continues, two-thirds of the Netherlands' Catholic churches are projected to close in the next decade.
The Dutch have the highest rate of people unaffiliated with any religion at 42.1 percent, according to Pew Research Center. This was followed by France at 28 percent, Germany with 24.7 percent, U.K with 21.3 percent, and Italy with 12.4 percent.
