Rector’s Reflections
Friday 27th September 2024
The Role of Cathedrals in the Modern World
We have now reached the end of the current series of reflections, on the role of cathedrals in the modern world. I have used the word “cathedral” in a broad sense, to cover all cathedral-like churches, whether or not they are actually cathedrals in the technical sense. We have seen that cathedrals play significant roles in the musical and educational life of our country, and that many also operate as well-resourced parish churches. We have also seen that some cathedrals are major players in the Heritage Industry, attracting tens of thousands of visitors every year. And finally, we have seen that cathedrals seek to serve the wider life of the diocese, and the Church of England as a whole.
Of course every cathedral is unique, and every context is different. So we can expect that the particular mission and ministry of any individual cathedral will have its own flavour and areas of focus. However, every cathedral plays a significant role in the wider life of the Church, and for this, we can give thanks to God.
Having said this, every cathedral also has its problems. In this, cathedrals are no different from every other church community. But the problems faced by cathedrals are often on a much bigger scale than the problems faced by smaller churches.
To start with, there is the problem of finance. It costs an enormous amount of money to maintain and repair a major church building. A large cathedral may well have to find hundreds of thousands of pounds a year simply to maintain the fabric. Grants can help, but they are not always available and there will always be the need for constant fund-raising. A cathedral can easily find that all the energy and imagination goes into finding ways of paying the bills, and there is little or nothing left for mission and evangelism.
The mention of mission and evangelism leads into a second problem which is often faced by cathedrals. As a broad generalisation, cathedrals don’t really do mission and evangelism. They expect people to come to them, and they tend to reduce Christian discipleship to participation in spiritually uplifting services. Cathedrals will usually do something to help visitors to engage with the reality of God, for example there may be an opportunity to light a candle in a quiet chapel which has been specially set-aside for private prayer. There may be a chaplain on duty, and short prayers might be said from time to time and broadcast over the loudspeaker. The cathedral literature may also talk about tourists as “pilgrims” who have come to a holy place. All these things are good things to do. But their impact on the majority of visitors is, I fear, somewhat limited. And being a Christian is about so much more than attending beautiful worship, however inspiring that worship might be. For example, it is about engaging with issues of social justice, and the diversity of the world wide Christian community. There is so much more to the Kingdom of God than a service of Choral Evensong, however beautifully that service is sung.
This leads onto a third problem. Like many communities, cathedrals can tend to become inward focused. Cathedral life becomes all absorbing, and it can become as if the world outside doesn’t really exist. One can quite understand the reason for this. Imagine spending all your time on the staff of Westminster Abbey. What a privilege and what an experience! It would be so easy to allow the life of the Abbey to take over one’s life.
Finally, there is the problem of power, pride and privilege. Issues of pride, power and privilege are not unique to life in our cathedrals. But they can become more intense. Generally, cathedrals are full of highly gifted musicians and clergy. Many of these clergy and musicians know how good they are; and while some are happy to keep this knowledge to themselves, others feel the need to share it with others. Such is human nature. But such issues of pride and power dynamics need to be acknowledged openly, so that their toxicity can be diluted in the waters of love and humility. If they are not even acknowledged, cathedrals can turn into very unpleasant places. This would also apply, of course, to any parish church, or any secular institution. None of us is free of the sin of pride, and we can all get a bit above ourselves. But there can be something about the atmosphere of a cathedral which can encourage the seeds of pride to grow and take deep root in our lives.
So what shall I say by way of conclusion? Cathedrals are wonderful, and they have key roles to play in our modern world. But they come with their issues, too. I think cathedrals could do much more to engage with issues of discipleship, mission and evangelism. Of course, this is true for every church up and down the land. But there are always opportunities to share the gospel afresh, in ways which are appropriate to the context in which we find ourselves. If you have a few spare minutes, do look at what the good folk at Newcastle Cathedral are doing. (I am referring to the Church of England cathedral). They have been thinking hard about what it means for them to be a city centre cathedral in today’s world. You may not agree with what they are doing, but at least they have had the courage to think and pray deeply about their mission as a cathedral in today’s world.
Yes, cathedrals still have a role in the modern world. But we need to think and pray about what that role might be.