High heating costs can lead to churches having to be temporarily closed this winter, TT reports.
Leave churches empty
Various solutions are discussed, for example, within the Malmö pastorate in the Church of Sweden. There is a proposal to concentrate the activities on only one church and leave the churches that are less used to be empty during the coldest period.
– If someone wants a funeral or wedding, you can heat the church temporarily, says property manager Nils-Urban Råwall to the newspaper Dagen.
He tied on time
Several of the Church of Sweden’s churches are heated by gas. But in Malmö pastorate they managed to bind the electricity contract in time.
– The gas price there has been four times higher than normal, says Nils-Urban Råwall.
Less vulnerable
The Grindtorp church in Täby north of Stockholm tied its electricity contract some time ago and installed an air source heat pump. This made the congregation’s finances less vulnerable, according to pastor Sven-Gunnar Hultman.
– Otherwise, the economy would not have worked out, it could have involved several hundred thousand in extra expenses in the worst case, he tells the newspaper.