A BOYCOTTED CHURCH.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 51, 1 March 1913, Page 6

A BOYCOTTED CHURCH.

Concerning the state of affairs at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, Chatham, the Daily Chronicle some months ago told how the vicar and his curate hold service every morning in a dclapidatod edifice, in the presence of a congregation which numbered less than a dozen. Recently the Rev. H .J. Martin (the vicar.) and the Rev. C. H. Muspratt (his curate) read morning prayer in the presence of a congregation of two persons, and at the close of prayers announced that the state of the church was such that he was unwilling to preach a sermon'. The organ was silent and there was no attempt at singing. Under these cir-| cu instances the liturgy sounded strangely'; The scene was onei of abject desolation. Some of the win-j dows have scarcely a whole pain of glass in them, the pews are thick with dust, and there are seven holes in the roof, through which the water pours after a rainstorm. Nothing is done to warm the building. One day the temperature was 2deg. below freezing. The churchyard is also neglected. Earlier in the day the vicar was to be seen with a broom sweeping the dead leaves out of the porch, after which ho rang the bell, for there is no verger. Then followed the “service.” In the parish of Brompton, of which Holy Trinity is the church, there is a population of 0782 persons, and it is growing rapidly. Holy Trinity is a fine stone building, put up about 70 years ago, when the new parish was carved out of those of Chatham and Gillingham. But the parishioners refuse to attend. No fewer than 20 banns of marriage wore published by the vicar at the Service mentioned. The regular church work, however, is at a standstill and has been for months past.