The Holly Bough Service at Liverpool Cathedral: a location and occasion for encounter?

Pike, Nelson

doi:10.1080/13617672.2021.1914914

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…A third strand of research has been concerned with mapping the characteristics of people who attend cathedral carol services. This strand includes qualitative studies reported by Phillips (2010), Murphy (2016), andPike (2022), and quantitative studies reported by Walker (2012aWalker ( , 2012bWalker ( , 2013aWalker ( , 2013bWalker ( , 2015 Francis, McKenna and Stewart (2024) isolated the responses of 404 participants who self-identified as not believing in God and who had completed the psychological type scales and who had completed the Fisher spiritual wellbeing measure just before the close of the service. They reported that among participants who did not believe in God, people who felt connected with Liverpool Cathedral and who felt connected with the carol service in such a way that they return year-on-year derived more spiritual benefit from their attendance than those who appeared to be more casual attenders.…”

Section: Research Aimmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the responses of non-churchgoers to a cathedral pre-Christmas son et lumiere

McKenna,

Francis,

Village

et al. 2024

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies

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Two conceptual strands of research within the field of cathedral studies have theorised the capacity of Anglican cathedrals to engage more successfully than parish churches with the wider non-churchgoing community. One strand has explored mobilising cathedral metaphors, and the other strand has explored the notion of implicit religion. Both strands illuminate the power of events and installations to soften the boundaries between common ground and sacred space. Drawing on a quantitative survey among 978 people who attended the pre-Christmas son et lumiere at Liverpool Cathedral during December 2022, the present study analyses the qualitative responses of 123 participants who never attend church services. Three categories of themes emerged from these data, concerning the Cathedral itself, the installation, and discordant experience.Contribution: Situated within the science of cathedral studies, this article draws on original qualitative data to illuminate the experiences of participants who never attend church services when engaging with the pre-Christmas son et lumiere at a major cathedral. Conceptualised within the framework of implicit religion, these data confirmed how the son et lumiere succeeded in softening boundaries between the sacred and the secular and provided a deeply moving experience. As one participant said, ‘I am not religious, but I had the best experience ever’.

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Section: Research Aimmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the responses of non-churchgoers to a cathedral pre-Christmas son et lumiere

McKenna,

Francis,

Village

et al. 2024

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies

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“…In the fourth paper, Walker (2015) identified clear demographic differences among those attending cathedral carol services and ordinary Sunday congregations, including a higher proportion of men and a higher proportion of younger people. The research tradition established by Walker in Worcester cathedral and in Lichfield Cathedral has been extended to Bangor Cathedral by Francis, Edwards and ap Siôn (2021) and to Liverpool Cathedral by , Francis, Jones & McKenna (2020, 2021a, 2021b, and Pike (2022).…”

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confidence: 99%

Implicit religion, Anglican cathedrals, and spiritual wellbeing: The impact of carol services

Francis,

McKenna,

Stewart

2024

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies

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Rooted in the field of cathedral studies, this paper draws into dialogue three bodies of knowledge: Edward Bailey’s notion of implicit religion that, among other things, highlights the continuing traction of the Christian tradition and Christian practice within secular societies; David Walker’s notion of the multiple ways through which in secular societies people may relate to the Christian tradition as embodied within the Anglican Church and John Fisher’s notion of spiritual wellbeing as conceptualised in relational terms. Against this conceptual background, this paper draws on data provided by 1234 participants attending one of the Christmas Eve carol services in Liverpool Cathedral to explore the perceived impact of attendance on the spiritual health of people who do not believe in God and yet feel that Liverpool Cathedral is their cathedral, and it is this sense of belonging that brings them back at Christmas time.Contribution: Situated within the science of cathedral studies, this paper links in an original way three fields of discourse: Edward Bailey’s notion of implicit religion, David Walker’s notion of the four ways of belonging to God facilitated by the Anglican Church and John Fisher’s conceptualisation and operationalisation of the notion of spiritual wellbeing. The hypothesis developed from this original integration of theoretical perspectives is then tested empirically on data provided by 404 participants at carol services who do not believe in God.

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The social value of music during the COVID-19 pandemic: exploring the benefits of online music participation for social capital, education, belonging and wellbeing

Krüger Bridge

2023

Journal of Beliefs & Values

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The Holly Bough Service at Liverpool Cathedral: a location and occasion for encounter?

Cited by 8 publications

References 11 publications

Exploring the responses of non-churchgoers to a cathedral pre-Christmas son et lumiere

Exploring the responses of non-churchgoers to a cathedral pre-Christmas son et lumiere

Implicit religion, Anglican cathedrals, and spiritual wellbeing: The impact of carol services

The social value of music during the COVID-19 pandemic: exploring the benefits of online music participation for social capital, education, belonging and wellbeing

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