Preaching on the Bible and engaging with science during the Cathedral Christmas Eve carol services: listening to the congregation’s response

ABSTRACT

Set within the discipline of cathedral studies, the present paper explores responses given to the sermon delivered by the Canon Scientist in the context of two afternoon carol services held on Christmas Eve 2019 in Liverpool Cathedral, drawing on qualitative responses to a survey. Some participants within the congregations, comprising mainly non-churchgoers, are shown to have engaged seriously with the biblical narrative of the incarnation as presented in the sermon and to have identified its implications for their own particular contexts in a deliberate manner. Commentary on the data is organised within six themes, concerning positive affective response, engagement with meaning, accessible pedagogy, perceived relevance, connecting with science, and negative affective response. The relevance of these qualitative findings are discussed for the trajectory of future quantitative research.

KEYWORDS:

• Cathedral studies
• Christmas
• qualitative research
• homiletics
• science and faith

Ethical approval

The study received approval from the St Mary’s Centre Ethics Committee (SMC19EC0011).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nelson Pike

Nelson A. Pike, B.A., currently serves as the Honorary Research Fellow at Liverpool Cathedral in Liverpool, UK, studying the intersection of cathedral studies, the psychology of religion, and modern culture under the Canon Theologian, The Reverend Canon Professor Leslie Francis. He is also a Postulant for Holy Orders to the Priesthood in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, USA, and is enrolled at Yale Divinity School in the M.Div. programme and at Berkeley Divinity School in the Diploma in Anglican Studies programme, Class of 2026. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History magna cum laude with Distinction from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa (ΦBK), Phi Alpha Theta (ΦAT), and Theta Alpha Kappa (TAK) academic honour societies. He served as a missionary of the Youth Adult Service Corps (YASC) of the Episcopal Church for two years, placed in the Tsedaqah Community in the Diocese of Liverpool, UK, and is a member of the American Guild of Organists and the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians.