A Retired Rector's Reflections

Today’s newspaper tells me that a full scale cast of the most complete giant dinosaur ever discovered is currently on display at Peterborough Cathedral. The words of the hymn based on the Canticle of St Francis came immediately to mind: All creatures of our God and King, Lift up your voice and with us sing, Alleluya. I feel sure St Francis would wish gigantic dinosaurs to join the song of all creation.

Cathedrals are certainly trying to interest and attract people. Sometimes I wonder. What is the motive for attracting people in? Unfortunately some cathedrals do not clearly indicate their motive. I am very uncomfortable about discos, corporate banquets, helter skelters being held in naves of Cathedrals. So much seems to be about fund raising. When I asked in one Cathedral where expensive banquets are held in the nave, whether they held a banquet at Christmas in the nave for the isolated and needy I was told ‘No, but some of the money we raise goes to help a homeless hostel.’ That made me very uncomfortable. It seems to keep the needy at a safe distance, while the wealthy feast in style.

I enjoy being a volunteer cathedral chaplain at Durham Cathedral. I meet a wide variety of people. Several ask for prayer, or ask questions about faith. One young man recently had come to remember a close friend who had committed suicide two years earlier on that day. He asked me to say a prayer with him. Many people pause and light a candle.

In a funeral which I recently took in an ex pit village the son of the deceased man, a former miner gave a lovely eulogy. In it he told how his father, who did not attend church, loved to go to Durham Cathedral. He said he went to Cuthbert’s grave and sat quietly there, probably, the son remarked, discussing with the great saint the fortunes of Newcastle United. It was a lovely and moving image, at which all present smiled.

I am so pleased that Durham, my ‘home’ cathedral, is free to enter, and that the Cathedral Chapter are working to make the Cathedral even more a place of spirituality and prayer. I feel sure people like the young man asking for prayer, or the retired miner, would be deterred from visiting by having to pay an entrance fee to enter.

Being places of sanctuary, spirituality, worship and pilgrimage must surely always be at the very centre of a Cathedral’s ministry. Often that is so, but often one can get the impression the emphasis is rather on paying to enter to see an historic building, or paying to be entertained. I was recently surprised when a friend who works in a Cathedral told me that they go to a church nearby if they wish to be quiet and pray, the Cathedral where they work is too busy and noisy, they said. I could sympathise with that, but it is also sad, and suggests something is not quite right at that cathedral.

Of course it is lovely to see many visitors, and, for example, school parties, visiting a cathedral. It is especially good when guides help interpret the Cathedral spiritually for such groups, rather than just indicating items of historical value. It is also good when Cathedrals set aside a quiet space for prayer and reflection. Personally I would also appreciate knowing that at set times of the day, say between 9 and 10am and 4 and 5pm the whole Cathedral is generally quiet and peaceful. And as for dinosaurs … personally I’d welcome them to be at peace, and quiet, in the holy space.