So here is the journalism question for today: Is the implosion of the Church of England, especially in terms of worship attendance, so common knowledge that it doesn’t even need to be mentioned in a news story linked to this topic?
It was news when attendance slid under 1 million, earlier this decade. Then the numbers kept falling. Here’s a Guardian report from a year or so ago. The big statistic reported in 2018 was that Sunday attendance was down to “722,000 — 18,000 fewer than in 2016.”
The story I want to look at did not run on a small website or in a niche-market newspaper. It was produced by the BBC, one of the top two or three most important news organizations on the planet.
Maybe this subject is too bleak to be mentioned in what is clearly meant to be a fun story? Here’s the headline on this long feature: “Why are cathedrals hosting helter-skelters and golf courses?” And the overture:
From giant models of Earth and the Moon to a helter-skelter and crazy golf course, cathedrals are increasingly playing host to large artworks and attractions. Why are buildings built for worship being used in the pursuit of fun?
Cathedrals might traditionally be viewed as hallowed places meant for sombre reflection and hushed reverence.
Vast, vaulted ceilings soar high over whispering huddles of wide-eyed tourists as robed wardens patrol the pews to silence anything that could detract from the sanctity of worship.
But cathedral chiefs across the country have been keen to shake free from the shushing stereotype.
Let’s see. There is a glimpse of the “why?” in this story. Why are these Anglican leaders so intent on opening the doors to let people have some fun of this kind?
The question the story does pose, briefly, is whether these events are in some way sacrilegious. Thus, a traditionalist is quoted:
Such schemes have made global headlines and attracted criticism, including from the Queen's former chaplain the Right Reverend Dr Gaven Ashenden.
Norwich Cathedral's helter-skelter was a "mistake" and "unprofessional", he said, adding: "For such a place, steeped in mystery and marvel, to buy into sensory pleasure and distraction is to poison the very medicine it offers the human soul."
Rochester's crazy golf course, which attracted 31,500 visitors in six weeks, was also a "really serious mistake", he said. "The idea that people are so trivial that they can be almost tricked into a search for God by entertaining them with a golf course is a serious-category error."
So once again, this is the “why?” question.
This is where the BBC hints at the larger issue — the statistical collapse of the Church of England — but frames it in the best possible way (which is fine). The question, as I asked it earlier, is whether the horrible statistics behind all of this have become so infamous that they do not need to be mentioned.
Why do the mini-fun parks in sacred spaces? Here is the Rev. Canon Andy Bryant of Norwich Cathedral:
"I often do things that are very serious, sombre and even heartbreaking in the cathedral," he said. "But surely we also need to celebrate the whole of ourselves; we were also made for love, laughter and fun."
The point of the helter-skelter, which was used by 10,000 visitors, was to get people up close to the cathedral's medieval roof bosses, sculptures carved high in the ceiling, Canon Bryant said.
By why use a helter-skelter?
"Why not?" he replied, adding: "The idea was to do it in a playful way.
"It's not something we expect to see in a cathedral and it was all about seeing things differently and provoking conversations. If you see a space differently, might you see yourself differently — and even God?"
The cathedrals, he stressed, where still open for prayer.
"It's the wonderful nature of a cathedral that at one end you can have people being very still, lighting candles, reading prayers and holding the regular services — all the things you would normally expect to find — while at the other you can have a helter-skelter. It's something being added, not taken away."
As another priest noted, visitors might see, “people screaming down a helter-skelter one end, a wedding in the middle, and people praying at the other end."
If all of this sounds familiar to GetReligion readers, there’s a reason for that. I made this same point about another BBC story in a recent post that ran with this headline: “There will always be an England? BBC helter-skelter cathedral report misses a crucial fact.”
Right, so this is deja vu all over again, to quote an American wise man (Yogi Berra, of course).
In that earlier piece, I stated the issue this way:
So what is the hard-news angle that would have added some meat to this cotton-candy story? … For starters, how is this cathedral doing these days in terms of membership, worship attendance and, well, money? Was there a serious reason to stage this obvious attempt for publicity and visits by people who rarely if ever frequent a pew or the Holy Communion rail?
After all, the Church of England faces some truly horrifying math these days linked to demographics, birth rates and members hitting the exit doors.”
I then linked to a story published by The Independent that did the ugly math, under this headline: “Church of England staring at oblivion as just 2% of young Britons say they identify with it.”
Go ahead and read that. There are serious facts to consider that the BBC should have briefly mentioned. In this case the silver, happy cloud has a dark lining.