Cathedrals as agents of psychological health and well-being within secular societies: Assessing the impact of the Holly Bough service in Liverpool Cathedral

Abstract

This study is designed to test the hypothesis that events like the Holly Bough service held in Liverpool Cathedral on the fourth Sunday of Advent that attracts a wide range of participants, including regular churchgoers and occasional (sometimes annual) visitors, contribute significantly to the psychological health and well-being of these participants. At the Holly Bough service held in 2019, a total of 383 participants (139 men, 229 women and 15 individuals who preferred anonymity) completed a recognised measure of psychological health and well-being (the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire) whilst they were waiting for the service to begin and again during a 5-min organ improvisation just before the close of the service. The data demonstrated a significantly higher score on the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire at time 2 than at time 1, suggesting that the experience of the service functioned as an agent of psychological health and well-being.Contribution: Situated within the science of cathedral studies, this paper confirms by means of a repeated-measure study that cathedrals promote psychological health; 383 participants at a Christmas service completed the same well-being measure before and after the service, with a significant increase in scores at time two.

The science of congregation studies and psychographic segmentation: O come all ye thinking types?

“…Against the background of the studies reported by Walker (2012), Francis et al (2020a) and Francis et al (2020b), the aim of the present study is to explore the psychological type profile of participants attending the two traditional Carol Services held in Liverpool Cathedral on the afternoon of Christmas Eve 2019: the first service was held at 14.00 and the second at 16.00.…”

“…Following the model established byFrancis et al (2020a), Francis et al (2020b reported on the congregation profile of men and women considered together. The data from the Holly Bough Service also reported a significantly higher proportion of thinking types attending the service compared with the profile reported byFrancis et al (2011): 48% compared with 40% in ordinary Anglican congregations and 46% in the UK population for men and women combined.…”