Phil Hamlyn Williams responds to criticism of the Church of England’s plans for reparations

Thank you for the excellent research into the rightwing backlash against the Church of England’s proposals for reparations (Lobbying, lawyers and a media blitz: the fight to kill the Church of England’s £100m slavery compensation fund, 13 October). May I offer observations in two areas?

We are all beneficiaries of the slave trade, like it or not. The work that the Guardian is doing on the actions of its founders will enhance the historical record, but it is unlikely to change the broader picture identified by Eric Hobsbawm and others.

Dr Andrew James Sillett of St Giles’ church in Oxford says parish churches need help to flourish just as cathedrals do

Dr Coco Parkinson-Huggins (Letters, 13 October) is right to highlight the severe financial pressures facing England’s cathedrals and the threat that this poses to choral music. Yet the future of choral evensong depends not just on cathedrals. Across the country, there are parish churches that sustain choirs, train young organists and offer regular opportunities for children and adults to participate in this living tradition.

I am a churchwarden and singer at St Giles’ church in Oxford, where locally recruited choirs of boys, girls and teenagers sing choral evensong every Sunday. Alongside these choirs, around 40 organ students are currently learning through the church, and we are investing in a major new pipe organ to support future generations of musicians.

St John the Divine church, London
The poet’s 1935 verse drama has its eccentricities but the meticulous star plays Thomas Becket with a Shakespearean relish

A striking example of site-specific theatre, TS Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral was first performed in 1935 at Canterbury Cathedral. This was the location, in 1170, for its pivotal event: the killing by Henry II’s knights of Archbishop Thomas Becket during a dispute over the powers of church and state.

Subsequently, audiences have been more likely to enter a production via a church nave than a theatre aisle. The latest host venue is St John the Divine, opposite the Orange Tree theatre, whose boss, Tom Littler, co-directs with Francesca Ellis.

They are some of our oldest and most historically significant buildings, yet they receive no secure state funding, writes Dr Coco Parkinson-Huggins

Jonathan Davies’ article (Abide with me: English choral music is a living part of our cultural heritage – we should cherish it, 7 October) speaks beautifully to the contribution of English choral music to our living cultural heritage, highlighting the importance of cathedral choirs in particular, in giving children access to “world-class musical training, extraordinary cultural experiences and educational opportunities that might otherwise be beyond their reach”.

What he misses however, is just how under threat these bastions of England’s religious, cultural and spiritual heritage actually are.

Some of Britain’s wealthiest financiers, including Sir Paul Marshall, have given a platform to critical coverage or are linked to its leading opponent

“This is virtue signalling,” said Nigel Biggar. “These are elites who are trying to demonstrate that they are being progressive.”

The target of his scorn was one that has obsessed him for years: the movement to pay reparations for the slave trade, and specifically the Church of England’s plan to spend £100m atoning for its involvement.