Introduction to the special issue on cathedral studies (part 1)

Cathedrals afford a fascinating part of the built environment. They also constitute a puzzling feature of the religious landscape. While attendance in Anglican churches continues to decline, attendances at cathedrals, in a variety of ways, seem more resilient. While church doors often remain firmly locked (to keep people out), cathedral doors seem to be flung wide open to attract people across the threshold. While clearly proclaiming in their distinctive architecture claims to be ‘sacred spaces’, they also serve as the ‘common ground’ on which people of diverse beliefs and worldviews can converge. While the Church seems keen on investing in new worshipping communities, attracting new people to sing the Lord’s song in new ways, the stabilitas of the cathedral choral tradition seems to attract unlikely participants to Choral Evensong (Reynolds 2021), annual devotees to the Christmas carol services (Francis et al. 2020, 2021), and people searching or questing for faith to the Sunday Choral Eucharist (Francis and Lankshear 2021). It is tempting to wonder whether these potential centre pieces of Anglican ecclesiology may survive after the newly designed resource churches have disappeared.

It is not surprising, therefore, that a fringe interest has emerged (under the radar of central Church initiatives) over the past decade to stimulate renewed and academically-grounded discussion and research into the identity and activity of Anglican cathedrals. Cathedral studies is emerging as a serious field of enquiry. Four books have helped to shape the field. The first of these books, Anglican cathedrals in modern life, edited by Francis (2015) carried the subtitle The science of cathedral studies, signalling an active interest in empirical data driven by qualitative and quantitative methods. The eleven core chapters focused on: mapping cathedral engagement with young people (Edwards and ap Siôn 2015); testing whether cathedral congregations were retreating from commitment or generating social capital (Francis and Williams 2015a); exploring the motivational style of cathedral congregations (Francis and Williams 2015b); comparing cathedral congregations alongside parish churches within the same diocese (Lankshear, Francis, and Ipgrave 2015); exploring who attends cathedral carol services and why they do so (Walker 2015); studying the ordinary prayers posted on the cathedral prayer board (ap Siôn 2015); encountering ordinary visitors through cathedral visitors’ books (Burton 2015); investigating the spiritual quest of cathedral visitors (Francis, Annis, and Robbins 2015); applying psychographic segmentation to cathedral visitors (Francis, Robbins, and Annis 2015); and examining the motivation and benefits of cathedral friends (Muskett 2015).

The second of these books, Holy ground, edited by Platten (2017a) carried the subtitle Cathedrals in the twenty-first century, and offered a series of conceptual pieces addressing a range of key issues: what is the point of cathedrals? (Platten 2017b); what underpins growth in cathedrals? (Oliver 2017); how is excellence encouraged in cathedrals? (Page 2017); reflection on history, heritage, and taking time (Hoyle 2017); cathedral-shaped worship (Platten 2017c); cathedral furnishings (Kennedy 2017); cathedral music (Shephard 2017); cathedrals at prayer (Atkinson 2017); cathedrals as focus for prophecy (Henshall 2017); and the place of art in cathedrals (Irvine 2017).

The third of these books, Shop window, flagship, common ground, by Muskett (2019) carried the subtitle Metaphor in cathedral and congregation studies, signalling a serious attempt to explore the nature and power of metaphor and to organise and evaluate the rich range of metaphors that have been applied to cathedrals, both positive and negative. Among this wide range of metaphors, Muskett privileges five metaphors in particular that each illustrate the capacity of cathedrals for engaging their local communities. Shop windows arouse curiosity and enhance footfall in the marketplace; flagships indicate the serious intention of their operators to be effective in their mission; beacons shine out in darkness, symbolise timeless stability, and serve as a secure reference point; magnets draw people in, generate tourism, and bring economic prosperity; sacred space and common ground finely captures ‘the vocation of cathedrals to be both a spiritual and community utility’ (Muskett 2019, 86). Of these five metaphors, the notion of cathedrals as sacred space and common ground may prove to be the most powerful for exploring the capacity of cathedrals to engage the wider community in the sense of connecting the Christian presence with those who may be less inclined to engage with, or to cross the threshold into, parish churches.

The fourth of these books, Religion in cathedrals: Pilgrimage, place, heritage, and the politics of replication, edited by Coleman and Bowman (2022b) emerged from work carried out for an AHRC-funded project on ‘Pilgrimage and England’s Cathedrals, Past, and Present’. This book comprises six chapters on the following themes: Religion in cathedrals: Pilgrimage, heritage, adjacency, and the politics of replication in Northern Europe (Coleman and Bowman, 2022a); Replication or rivalry? The ‘Becketization’ of pilgrimage in English cathedrals (Jenkins 2022); More English than the English, more Roman than Rome? Historical signifiers and cultural memory at Westminster Cathedral (Jenkins and Harris 2022); Caminoisation and cathedrals: Replication, the heritagisation of religion, and the spiritualisation of heritage (Bowman and Sepp 2022); Nidaros Cathedral: A recreated pilgrim church (Mikaelsson 2022); and On praying in the old country: Ritual, replication, heritage, and powers of adjacency in English cathedrals (Coleman 2022).

Against this background, Journal of Beliefs and Values set out to stimulate further advances in cathedral studies by dedicating a Special Issue of the journal to this theme. The response to this call has been more than encouraging. What began as an aspiration to collect nine articles has resulted in this issue of a dozen articles, and a further dozen articles have been committed for a second Special Issue on cathedral studies in 2024. In this first Special Issue we offer a selection of conceptual and empirical pieces. The opening article on ‘Anglican cathedrals as episcopal theological resource churches for nurturing growth and sustainability’ by Francis (2023) advances a provocative case for investing in cathedrals and does so by addressing three preliminary questions: Why bother with Anglican identity? Why bother with theology? Why bother with bishops? Discussion of these three issues leads to a reasoned response to the fourth question: Why bother with cathedrals?

In ‘The inclusivity of Anglican cathedrals, and the coronation of King Charles III: Embracing explicit religion, civic religion, and implicit religion’, McKenna, Francis and Stewart (2023) draw on Edward Bailey’s distinctions between explicit religion, civic religion, and implicit religion to chart the response of the 43 cathedrals in England and the Isle of Man to the coronation. The websites provided rich exemplification of engagement with explicit religion (incorporating coronation-related music and prayers within their routine liturgical provision), with civic religion (arranging special services involving civic dignitaries and uniformed groups), and with implicit religion (welcoming within the sacred space a wide range of community-focused events, installations, and activities). Here indeed is sacred space and common ground where explicit religion, civic religion, and implicit religion can coexist side-by-side.

In ‘The social contribution of an urban cathedral: The vision of Coventry Cathedral in the 1960s’, Watts (2023) discusses and analyses Provost Williams’ ‘Coventry experiment’, the attempt to reconnect church life with urban society, and to bring reconciliation to a fragmented urban society. Watts concludes that this was a bold experiment, and one that invigorated the cathedral community, though it probably made less difference to urban society in Coventry than Provost Williams had hoped.

In ‘Exploring the religious and spiritual trajectory of cathedral choristers in England’, Dong and Ward (2023) report findings from interviews with thirty ex-choristers from cathedrals and collegiate chapels in England, aged from eighteen to eighty. They conclude that, although choristers are not invited into the spiritual community on a level that allows them to engage cognitively with organised religion, they remain open to its emotional connotations as expressed in music. They might, nonetheless, subsequently, find faith if they get help to explore the meaning of liturgy and music within it. However, there have been accounts where this faith is forced upon them in a way that pushes them away.

In ‘The value of online music participation during the COVID-19 pandemic: An empirical study of Liverpool Cathedral’s music outreach programme’, Krüger Bridge (2023) found that online music participation during the COVID-19 pandemic enhanced people’s sense of social connectedness and belonging; provided important opportunities for formal and informal music education and learning and exposure to an eclectic range of musical styles; resonated with and reinforced participants’ sense of shared identity and belonging; and enhanced people’s general health and wellbeing, along with a sense of normality and routine.

In ‘Preaching on the Bible and engaging with science during the Cathedral Christmas Eve Carol Services: Listening to the congregation’s response’, Pike (2023) examined how participants responded to a sermon included within the traditional Christmas service. He concluded that participants within the congregations, comprising mainly non-churchgoers, engaged seriously with the biblical narrative of the Incarnation as presented in the sermon, and identified its implications for their own particular contexts in a deliberate manner.

In ‘Telling the Christmas Story in words and music: The development of and contemporary missional value of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols within Cathedrals’, Robinson (2023) examines how the tradition developed in Truro and adapted at King’s College, Cambridge, had been developed throughout the twentieth and twenty-first century, using examples from four Cathedrals in England: Coventry, Salisbury, Durham, and Truro. This article shows how, with adaption and careful planning, this service can continue to be used as a missional tool to tell the story of faith in the twenty-first century.

In ‘Enhancing inclusivity and diversity among cathedral visitors: The Brecon Jazz Festival and psychographic segmentation’, Francis et al. (2023) employed psychological type theory to explore how this particular innovative event broadened the profile of visitors to the cathedral. They found that visitors to Brecon Cathedral during this period differed significantly from the standard psychological type profile of cathedral visitors in two ways. There were significantly more intuitive types and significantly more perceiving types. These findings demonstrate that specific events have the capacity to widen the psychographic appeal of cathedrals.

In Space, the Universe and Everything: Listening to visitors to the Luxmuralis son et lumiere installation at Liverpool Cathedral in 2022’, Kirby, Francis, and Village (2023) examined the demographic and religious profile of 283 visitors to this installation at Liverpool Cathedral and explored their views on the connection between science and religion. The data demonstrated that 94% of the participants agreed that a cathedral is an ideal place for this type of installation. Reflecting on their experience of the installation in Liverpool Cathedral, 73% agreed that we need both science and religion in our lives.

In ‘A temple to memory: Peace and war together in a strange intertwining. Stepping again into the Memorial Chapel of Liverpool Cathedral’, Ellis (2023) acknowledges that place has priority as an inexhaustible source within which a person, who having placed themselves in the way of whatever place has to give, may be enabled to receive what has become hidden, obscured or deadened by over-thematisation. Ellis invites the readers to immerse themselves in like manner within their cathedral of choice, giving priority to place.

In ‘The psychological-type profile of cathedral worshippers’, Village (2023) employs psychological type theory to compare cathedral worshippers with parish-church worshippers. Those who worshipped in cathedrals showed a significantly higher preference for thinking over feeling than those from parish churches, but there were no other significant differences in profiles between the two samples.

In the final article, ‘Pantheon research, practical theology, and cathedral studies’, Beaudoin (2023) brings cathedral studies and practical theology into dialogue. Beaudoin’s practical theological research project at the Pantheon becomes an occasion to showcase some frameworks and apply some findings of cathedral studies. Developing Pantheon research at the intersection of these two fields deepens Pantheon research while also allowing a critical perspective on the relatively new field of cathedral studies, in service of its further development as a critical discourse in service of academy, church and world.