Camera, Spire, Action!

Just before Christmas I was walking along the High Street and I bumped into Pete Wishart chatting to Scott Burton, the minister from St Matthews Church. Pete introduces us and tells me he thinks Scott might have a story for Small City. I then had one of those mouth-before-brain moments when I said...“Mmmm. I try to avoid politics and religion on Small City… It just stirs up trouble.”

Talk about playing to your audience; thankfully the local MP and the minister found it highly amusing and we had a brief chat about Scott’s plea for the people of Perth. By the time we’ve finished I am swapping numbers with Scott, convinced that his ‘Save St Matthews’ campaign reaches far wider than religion.  I eventually caught up with him again last Saturday and this time we got down to nitty-gritty numbers and the vision he has. People, old agnostic that I am, I put it you that the matter of this iconic Perth building is one for all of us.

St Matthews has to be the most photographed church in Perth, with its magnificent spire standing tall and giving our famous view by the river the majesty and presence that has made it one of our most iconic Perth landmarks.  It has appeared in print, online, on postcards, in calendars, in countless wedding photographs and on more business folders and flyers than I could possibly track down. One of my favourite images of Perth ever is the fireworks above its roof taken by the wonderful Graeme Lafferty.  Quite simply, that spire belongs to all of us.

It’s stood, pride of place, since 1871. Built with funds from the philanthropists William Turnbull and John Dewar alongwith countless other contributions from the everyday citizens of the town.   It was originally called the Perth West Church. In 1965 three churches closed their buildings (including the one that is now flats, next to the Royal George Hotel), and their congregations all joined together on Tay Street and St Matthews was born. In all of this time, little has changed. If a parishioner from 1871 stepped inside today they may be surprised at the electric heating and fantastic organ. They might wonder at the Black Watch Flags; but to all intents and purposes they would recognise their church in all its stained glass glory.

The problem of course, is that as much as we all adore the magnificent view and iconic spire stretching up into the sky above our small city, love alone won’t pay the bills.  The maintenance and repair costs of a £7million building are significant with £10K a year needed for insurance before it even opens the doors. I didn’t know that churches were entirely self-funding with no donations from central or local government.  I’m sure there are many of you, like me, who do not attend on Sundays and who would agree that this was in fact the correct way to operate.  Why use taxpayers funds for the benefit of a few? 

I wrestled with this as well at first. But if you take your head out of the traditional Sunday service and into weddings, funerals, brownies, choirs, yoga classes, Thai chi groups, youth clubs and all the other wonderful opportunities that St Matthews offers up, you will begin to realise that this is more than hymns and prayers. And then think of the community that it brings to the people who do use it; many of them elderly or alone.  And then think about manpower that can be galvanised when there is a crisis to be addressed or a problem to solve. I may not know if this God they worship exists, but I do know that it’s the churches of Perth who collectively run the Foodbank that helped 2,500 people find a meal last year.

Now look at it from a commercial point of view.  Just think, that if every business that had every photographed it and featured it on their promotional materials had paid royalties there would be no need for this conversation. Moral obligations or not?

What I’m asking is that we put our religious beliefs aside and think about the social capital, the history, the community and the potential draw that St Matthews offers Perth.

Here’s what the Rev Scott Burton explained to me;

“It’s tired. Its old and it’s in need of some major repair.  That’s it in a nutshell. A few years ago I was in Amsterdam and I visited the Westerkerk Church viewing platform. I came back all pumped up, full of ideas of fund raising for something similar in Perth. A lift up into the spire that would let people see the city from the unique perspective of our spire.  I saw it as a real tourist attraction and draw for the City Centre with a café, shop and a tour that would give the history of the building and possibly the street.

You see, if we keep getting handouts and fundraising to repair things then we will be forever repeating the cycle. If we could find a way to fund ourselves then we have a chance of making this a real hub for Tay Street and all the tourists who get off coaches and come into the city. We could afford to open the doors seven a days a week instead of one and get back to being a real part of the community we serve.”

Let me tell you folks, Scott Burton is a passionate man. He wants this for all the right reasons and although he may have resigned himself to the fact he’s not getting his viewing platform the target of £925,000 to repair and modernise the church so that it has access for buggies and wheelchairs, heat, light, double-glazing and great audio visual for wider community use, seems like a drop in the ocean. I know that there is hundreds of thousands of pounds each year spent on far less.

He has received some significant funding from The Forteviot Trust and local philanthropist, Jimmy Cairncross’s Trust. Other Trusts have given smaller contributions and all this together with the help of the congregation investing and raising their own £170,000 sees their current total standing at £420,000.  But it has taken them over four years.

“What has become a very real concern for me is the real chance that St Matthews could end up another dilapidated building. Closed to the public and going to ruin. I look at amazing buildings like St Pauls and it saddens me that this great icon of our city could go the same way – especially when it has all the potential to become something far, far greater.

I can see a café, bustling tourist spot, a place for exhibitions and events. I think we can make this an affordable community led space that is here for everyone to enjoy and use.” 

Scott and other members of the congregation elaborate, on a professional produced video that was generously donated to them by a bride and groom whose wedding he conducted. 

So, what do you think? Can you imagine the skyline of Tay Street without the spire of St Matthews? Or picture that most iconic of views with an old crumbling building in its centre, all sorts of foliage and fauna growing out of broken tiles and decaying stonework?  I’d say the very fragile life of a building of this magnitude needs all of us to care, regardless of belief or persuasion.

☆☆☆☆☆

To donate to the “St Matthews Refurbushment Fund” please text “MATT02 £youramount” to 70070 or visit their fundraising page here.  Or if you like your donations traditional, you can even send a cheque to the St. Matthew’s Church, Tay Street, Perth, PH1 5LQ!