When we are beaten up by the tabloids

A headline on the BBC News website yesterday caught my eye: Police called in row between villagers and rector. It features the church in the Cheshire village of Malpas. I sighed—not only because I know the church, but because it brought back difficult memories of my own experience of being caught in the crosshairs of the tabloids.

Right now, I’m writing up the long and sometimes painful story of our Ministry Centre building project at Christ Church, Aughton, where I was vicar. It’s a lengthy piece—understandably, since the whole saga spanned nearly two decades. In fact, it’s the story of two buildings: the Parish Centre, which never came to be, and the Ministry Centre, which did.

It all began promisingly. The Champion, our local free newspaper (in theory delivered to every home in the area), gave us a front-page splash: HEAVEN-SENT OPPORTUNITY, with the subheading Aughton church unveils state-of-the-art plans for parish centre.

I was quoted at length: “We long for this new building to be a place of welcome and safety, drawing all kinds of people into the life of Christ Church, not just on Sundays but throughout the week.”

There was also a photo of me and the project team looking suitably earnest, alongside “an artist’s impression of radical new centre.” Unfortunately, that image—an uncoloured, stark white building—was a big mistake. The architect hadn’t yet chosen materials or colours, but the image gave the impression of something alien and out of place.

All this caused some local residents to take fright and soon CCDAG was formed – Christ Church Development Action Group, with its own committee, newsletter, website and logo.  All this took us off-balance especially  as they worked hard to collect petitions and mobilise public opinion. 

But nothing delights the tabloids more than a dispute with a vicar at its centre.

The Advertiser, our paid-for local paper, picked it up with another front-page: SCI-FI DESIGN FOR CENTRE ATTACKED. It quoted a nameless resident: “The design is horrible and would stick out like a sore thumb.”

We responded with a modest redesign—only to land again on the Champion’s front page: ANGER OVER CHURCH PLAN. The story began, “PROTESTORS will descend on next Monday’s meeting of Aughton Parish Council following the resurrection (sic) of a state-of-the-art parish centre.”

We became regular news fodder. Things escalated when the Planning Committee rejected our application, a decision that was later upheld on appeal.

Then came the worst blow: a prominent article on page 3 of the Champion, carried across the entire group’s newspapers, reaching some 165,000 homes.

Headlined: Vicar embroiled in unholy row, with the byline Parish Council delight as church centre plans are rejected.

“An unholy row has erupted following claims that a local vicar has divided his parish,” it claimed. “According to Aughton Parish Council, attendance at Christ Church on Liverpool Road is at an all-time low—and the blame rests with their vicar, Reverend Ross Moughtin.”

It would have made gripping reading—if it had been true. But every single “fact” in the article was wrong. The Parish Council had said no such thing. Church attendance was actually growing. We weren’t in debt.

We visited the Champion office in Southport. As a result, they begrudgingly printed a full apology and correction. Unfortunately, it was in lowercase at the bottom of page six.

It was a bruising time.

But I received extraordinary support from our wardens and congregation. I’ll never forget Stuart, a fellow vicar from Southport, driving eight miles to offer his encouragement in person.

And the Parish Centre project, while ultimately abandoned, wasn’t a wasted effort. Though the PCC had spent around £20,000, we’d learned how to build a centre for mission. Astonishingly, starting afresh with a new architect, the Ministry Centre opened just three years later.

The opening was a joyful occasion: two bishops, an MP, civic dignitaries, and some 400 people attended. Not that you’d have known—the Champion, by then still trading, didn’t print a word.

So how did we persevere through such relentless negativity?

A former curate, visiting for the Ministry Centre opening, gave the best answer. “Ross,” he said, “you have the gift of faith.” I’m sure he meant it collectively—the church as a whole.

Paul names faith as one of the nine spiritual gifts: “To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge… to another faith by the same Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:8)

Of course, all Christians have faith. But this gift is something deeper: a Spirit-given conviction that, despite setbacks (and Champion headlines), God’s purposes in a particular area will prevail. We didn’t work it up. We just knew—deep down—that God was in this, his gift. 

And, as many of you know first-hand, the Ministry Centre has been a remarkable blessing. I often smile wryly when I see former members of CCDAG enjoying their cappuccinos in Café Vista.