Rector’s Reflections
Friday 20th September 2024
The Role of Cathedrals in the Modern World
In yesterday’s reflections, I wrote about how cathedrals play a vital role in supporting the world of Classical Music, especially in the fields of choral and organ music. They are living embodiments of the spirit of Psalm 96: “ O Sing to the Lord a new song: sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day”.
Cathedrals also play a significant role in the educational life of our country. Typically, this is because the cathedral provides a school where its choristers can receive a general education. Such schools can sometimes be open to children who are not choristers. For example, I attended the choir school attached to St Chad’s Cathedral in Lichfield, although I did not sing in the cathedral choir (for which mercy the Choirmaster doubtless gave hearty thanks). Several schools attached to cathedrals have an excellent reputation. They tend to be Independent, fee-paying schools, but this is not necessarily the case. For example, the school attached to Southwell cathedral in Nottinghamshire is a large Comprehensive with 1600 pupils. The Cathedral Choir school is embedded within the school.
Cathedrals typically also have a policy of actively engaging with local schools in the area, in order to support teachers in the delivery of the school curriculum, especially in relation to RE. For example, a local school can arrange a visit to Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford, during which the children undertake various carefully planned activities. Everyone is a winner: the teachers have been supported in the delivery of the school curriculum, and the children have been provided with learning opportunities which are interesting and memorable. I should add that these visits are solely about helping schools to deliver the curriculum, especially in relation to RE. They are not about religious indoctrination, or about trying to turn children into church goers.
Cathedrals also usually provide some form of educational provision for adults, but the nature and scope of this provision varies widely. Some cathedrals include a Canon Theologian among their staff team. Oxford Cathedral and Durham Cathedral have long-standing relationships with their respective Universities. For example, the Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Oxford is also an ex officio Canon of the Cathedral. Some might criticise this arrangement, as it limits the pool of academics who are eligible for the post of Regius Professor to those distinguished academics who also happen to be ordained clergy. In practice there has been no shortage of eminent theologians who also happen to be ordained, so the issue has historically been solely one of principle. Things might change in the future, if the number of ordained clergy continues to shrink. I am also aware that my ability to say that the issue is “solely one of principle” reflects the presence of a considerable degree of pragmatism in the way I tend to approach ethical issues in the life and practice of the Church. Not everyone would be happy with a similar degree of pragmatism; and indeed there would be those who would say that merely pragmatic considerations should have no role in any system of Christian Ethics.
I think it would be fair to say that while cathedrals tend to have an extensive educational engagement with primary and secondary aged children, their educational engagement with adults, both Christian and Non-Christian, tends to be fairly limited. This reflects the history of university education in Western Europe. Broadly speaking, until the later 13th century, cathedrals were the main providers of university level education. Up until this time, many cathedrals had a dual function: they operated as both a cathedral and also as a university. But from 14th century onwards, universities became separate institutions with their own endowment and governance. Cathedrals were no longer able to compete with what the universities were providing, and so their role in teaching and higher education largely disappeared. I think an interesting question for us today is whether it might be possible for our cathedrals to recover a significant role in the provision of Higher Education? And if so, would such a recovery be desirable? Would it be beneficial for the mission of the Church? What do you think? Personally, I feel that there is considerable scope for the provision of more educational opportunities, especially for adults.
Of course education and music are only part of the ministry of a cathedral, and we shall look at other aspects of their work in the days ahead.