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In the last century it was widely thought [English cathedrals] would deteriorate, stuck in ageing city centres without specific parochial commitment. Their decline matched that of local churches, but their gargantuan repair bills presaged hopelessness. With the turn of the 21st century, something happened. From declining by some 5% a year, cathedral attendance numbers began to rise. Today, service attendance has grown by almost a third in a decade. This is quite apart from the boom in tourist visitors, now some 8 million a year. Cathedral revenues have doubled in 10 years and fundraising has proved an invariable success. Ten cathedrals now charge for entry and more could do so, relieving the call on central funds.

[...]

The appeal of the modern cathedral goes deeper. The religious thinktank Theos reports that a sixth of atheists and a quarter of lapsed Christians still visit cathedrals. They appeal to the “marginally” religious, those who decorously call themselves agnostic – if only when challenged.

Simon Jenkins | Read the full article at The Guardian."

Read our report "Spiritual Capital: the Present and Future of English Cathedrals" here.

Image from The Guardian