Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Pay to pray

It costs dearly to go to a church in this country. Not just any old church, but one of the big famous ones. Like St Paul's or Canterbury Cathedral. Like the kind of money you pay and expect to get rides.

But here's a little tip. If you actually go into church at the right time and sit there for a service you can pray for free. Oh sure, they pass the basket around, but believe you me you can respectably drop in a pound coin or two and that'll save you at least a fiver off admission. But once you're in, sneaking off to look at the statuary is considered uncouth.

I happened to going past Westminster Abbey today, which is filthy with tourists right now. I overheard an American couple asking about the free admissions (I guess for evensong) and the tabard wearing attendant said "Yes, you can come in for free for the service if you plan to stay the whole hour."
Westminster Abbey

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At Canterbury you pay a lot, but the ticket is good for a year - so not so bad on the locals.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ideas for ripping off God - that's why I read The Vol Abroad.

Vol Abroad said...

Well, every little helps in these times of credit crunch.

Best tip yet... go to the Christmas services, full choir, good show a little audience participation on the carols. But you better get there early...it's always SRO.