HEREFORD’S  new bishop says the county has too many churches, but only parishioners should be shutting those struggling to keep up congregations and cover bills.

Bishop Richard believes today’s Church of England would not build the number of churches that Hereford Diocese has now.

“We have too many, but the initiative for closure must remain in the hands of parishioners,” said Bishop Richard.

“If we were a company we’d rationalise, but that’s not how the church sees things - our buildings stand for God in the communities they are in,” he said.

The diocese is, however, recognised by the C of E nationally as an example over the development of church buildings.

But, as revealed by the Hereford Times,  some dwindling county congregations collectively face a £5 million bill for urgent repairs to their churches to fix churches across the county in urgent need of repair.

Many more congregations across the diocese are struggling to pay the parish share that covers basic bills.

Bishop Richard says giving as a “response to God” is as much about generosity and time as is money.

“Mission and Ministry has to be paid for and we all agree equitably, but  equitable – a 100 people will have 150 ways of interpreting the meaning of word.”

“Seems to me our deployment and use of resources is geared to what we can pay for rather than how we how we should best use it.

“We need to discuss how we deploy resource, but not from the view of how little we can get away with paying. The nuts and bolts need working out,” he says.

Twenty-one churches - the majority serving small parishes - are new entries on the latest Buildings at Risk register for Herefordshire published by English Heritage.

The new entries take the total of churches at risk to 25 ranging from St Peter’s in Hereford to the chapel at Brockhampton Park, Brockhampton.

Six of those churches are described as being in a “very bad” state. They are St Michael’s, Upper Sapey; St Mary’s, Stoke Edith; St Mary’s, Middleton on the Hill; St John the Baptist, Grendon Bishop; Holy Trinity, Bosbury; and St Bartholomew’s, Ashperton.

Ten of the “at risk” churches have a Grade 1 listing that puts them amongst the most important historic sites the county.

The best estimate the Diocese of Hereford offers for repairs so far is £5 million or around £250,000 per church.

Roofs and towers represent the main structural risk which, once leaking, cause further damage to fabric.

But the diocese is quick to stress that the need for repairs is a “generational thing” and not down to down to neglect on behalf of parishioners.

Nine diocesan  churches have been removed from the at risk register over the past year with works completed through English Heritage and Heritage Lottery grant aid.

Earlier this year, the Hereford Times revealed that centuries of parish life in the county were under threat as churches across the diocese struggled to pay the parish share that covers basic bills.

Ageing, “sure foundation”, congregations dwindling to low double figures or less already face raising thousands of pounds year-on-year to survive.