Church sleeping refreshes the soul
The inside of St Dona’s church in Wales, set up for the evening’s guests. Photos courtesy of champing.co.uk
Church sleeping refreshes the soul
29 January 2023
Have you ever slept in church? No, not during the sermon, but slept there overnight?
St Dona’s church in the Welsh town of Llanddona, Anglesey, offers the opportunity of church camping or ‘champing’ for tourists. Faced with the church’s closure, the parishioners wanted to find other ways to use the building.
St Dona’s joins the many churches across England run by the Churches Conservation Trust where you can bed down for the night.
Bed and a good book in St James’ church in Cooling, Kent.
Part of the attraction of champing can be finding out about the history of the building and its place in the local area. But some churches have a sort of fame of their own, so if you ever find yourself in Britain and fancy staying in the church that inspired Charles Dickens to write the opening of Great Expectations, try St James’ church in Cooling, Kent.
Imagine waking up to the sun shining through the stained-glass windows or washing in the font. Okay, I made that last bit up, but you get the idea. Given the cost of maintaining these old buildings, champing provides a source of income for the church and offers a unique B&B experience that few of your friends can top. So, a real win-win.
Not that champing is new; for thousands of years, the priests on duty in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem slept on the premises. And so it was that a young boy called Samuel woke in the night to hear someone calling his name. Thinking it was Eli the priest, Samuel ran to ask what he wanted, but Eli said it wasn’t him. After the third time, Eli realised that it was God calling Samuel, so he told him that the next time he heard the voice respond, “Speak; your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10 GNB).
Now I can’t guarantee that you will hear God calling you if you go champing (or just visit a church). But then again ... if you do, you know how to respond.