IMPRESARIO'S FUND KEEPS CHURCH ALIVE.

Byline: Scott McCaffrey Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

What the Luftwaffe couldn't do during World War II, apathy seemed ready to do in the '90s.

Attendance was down at St. Barnabas-Pimlico Church, with changing demographics whisking away the church's traditional working-class parishioners. The 19th-century house of worship no longer could support a full-time parish priest, and it appeared likely that St. Barnabas - the first church in England built for the influential Oxford Movement - would have to close its doors for good.

Enter, stage left, an odd benefactor: impresario Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, whose string of stage hits includes ``Starlight Express,'' playing just down the street at the Apollo Victoria.

Lloyd Webber founded the Open Churches Trust in 1994 to keep historic English religious facilities open. St. Barnabas is one of the first in London to receive a grant.

The funding isn't much - 4,500 British pounds, or about $7,000, so far - but it is enough to keep St. Barnabas open to parishioners and tourists weekdays and Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m. Guides are available to explain the importance of the church, and facilities are available for the faithful to pray during the day.

Increased public interest in the church apparently has caused Anglican church officials to rethink plans to close it permanently, even though Sunday services remain sparsely attended.

Inside, St. Barnabas-Pimlico - Barnabas, the church's patron saint, was an apostle and companion of St. Paul - is a unique hybrid of styles, looking more like a Roman Catholic church than one supported by the Church of England. Its pre-Raphaelite decorations haven't been modified much since the church was built in the 1840s.

German bombers pounded the Pimlico area south of Buckingham Palace during the World War II blitz, aiming for the strategic Victoria Station just north and electric generating plants nearby. Blast damage knocked out stained-glass windows but caused relatively few structural problems; the church's historic organ and bells remained intact.

Although not on any ``must-see'' list of British churches, St. Barnabas-Pimlico played a historic role in English church life.

It was built as the first Oxford Movement church. The movement, beginning in the 1830s, was an attempt to bridge theological differences between Anglicans and Catholics. Eventually, leaders of the movement were forced to choose sides, to decide whether to convert to Catholicism or remain Anglicans. The movement died out, but its influence on both sects in Britain has been large.

While several Oxford churches were ``retrofitted'' to a more traditional Anglican style after the movement fell apart, St. Barnabas-Pimlico is a rare exception. The intricate interior is more in keeping with the Catholic tradition than the more spartan Church of England interiors. The Madonna is a frequent sight throughout the inside, and the church has an impressive Calvary (Christ on the cross).

The church was built with a 10-bell carillon in the tower, but because of structural problems the bells cannot be rung.

The neighborhood surrounding St. Barnabas once was home to many of London's lower-income residents, including many who worked at Buckingham Palace.

Gentrification has taken over the community, with fashionable shops moving in and real estate prices escalating. Although staying true to its working-class roots, the church today has only about 20 parishioners. Its parish priest left several years ago and has not been permanently replaced.

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Photo: A wood carving of St. Barnabas, patron saint of St. Barnabas- Pimlico Church in London, whose history made it worth saving to theater legend Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Scott McCaffrey/Knight-Ridder Tribune Photo Service