Dear Rabbi Simon
Miriam has a music exam coming up and the location options are all churches. Is this a problem? I assume that it would be in a side room rather than the sanctuary itself. There are a series of students taking the exam in successive 15-minute intervals.
Many thanks,
Yocheved
Dear Yocheved
If other accessible options are not available, this can be permitted. Although one should normally avoid entering a functioning (as opposed to decommissioned) church, it is widely recognised that many churches in the UK are underutilised as places of worship and serve a range of general-purpose functions. This mitigates the objectional “optics” associated with entering a church building.
Since there are other musical students being examined on the same day, this can be likened to entering a church for the purposes of voting or similar. We can assume the exam is in a side room or social hall of some sort, but if there is also a side entrance, that is to be preferred. 14 minutes of fame (or nerves) 🎹🎸🎻🎷🎺🥁🪕🎙️.
Best wishes,
Rabbi Rashi Simon