Should Christ Church be our Cathedral?

Its a controversial debate, but one that had to happen, argues Gareth Miller. A lover of Cathedrals, he says he is embarrassed by Christ Church. Here, we pit his views on Christ Church’s weaknesses as the Diocesan Cathedral against those of the new Dean, Christopher Lewis.The debate that follows makes fascinating reading...

Gareth Miller writes:

I AM a relative newcomer to the diocese (six years) and I suppose I have worshipped at the cathedral on no more than six or seven occasions. But on each occasion I have come away feeling rather glum. On one particular occasion in June I took a foreign guest to an evening Sung Eucharist in the cathedral, and I have to say that I felt embarrassed. The welcome was negligible, the atmosphere dark and cold, the lighting poor, the celebrant invisible, the reader inaudible, the prayers rushed, the furniture uncomfortable, and the liturgy generally very drab and perfunctory and lacking in warmth and a sense of a community gathered together for worship. The music was terrific, but there was only one hymn!

I have been told by several people that things are much better than they used to be. And it may well be that on that particular evening there was an unusually high combination of unfortunate circumstances which contributed to the uninviting feel of the service. But I have to say that I have felt it on each visit, and that everyone I have spoken to at parish level seems to share the same kind of sentiment. Nor is this a broadside from someone who dislikes cathedral style worship. Quite the opposite!

It does seem to me reasonable to try to open a debate on the subject of the cathedral. I’m quite sure there have been numerous discussions over the years about the rather anomalous status of our cathedral church, and I do not pretend to be familiar with what has been said by others in the past nor to have any ideal solution. But I would be glad to know the views of others.

In other dioceses I have always felt proud of and welcome at my cathedral. I cannot honestly say that here. That does not mean that I want to do away with Christ Church as the cathedral. I’m certainly not for conformity or the standardisation of cathedrals! In fact, it’s rather fun to be a little bit different. But that shouldn’t stop us asking difficult questions. Is this the right building, especially for such a large diocese? What are the alternatives? A new cathedral? Surely not. The University Church? Dorchester Abbey? None of these is ideal.
Christ Church has had an honourable history as the cathedral for four and a half centuries and is a magnificent building. My overwhelming concerns are about 1) accessibility; 2) clutter; 3) atmosphere. I would like to expand on each:

1) Accessibility: The Cathedral is difficult to get to and get into. There are clearly problems of parking and general access which are not easily solved. But bowler-hatted gentlemen on one side and a ticket office on the other do not make the cathedral feel open or welcoming. Is there no possibility of access from the east end which would avoid members of the diocese and the general public from having to go through the college grounds, where security is obviously a prime consideration?

2) Clutter: I really dislike cluttered buildings, and cluttered churches in particular. Christ Church suffers from this particularly badly. If you look up there are wonderful pillars and arches and a splendid roof. But at ground level (rather like Westminster Abbey) there is a preponderance of tombs and rather heavy memorial tablets, and an excess of rather drab Victorian furnishings mixed up with a lot of plastic chairs. Buildings need to be spacious and gracious! Christ Church needs a clear-out! Ideally there would be no seats in the nave and transepts at all. They don’t have them in most Orthodox churches and in many others on the continent. And please, if you haven’t already, go and look at Portsmouth Cathedral, which I only got around to this summer. It’s an absolute gem, and a model of what you can do with an unusual and difficult building. Incidentally, my children always complain that whenever we go on holiday, instead of doing the normal things we have to go on a cathedral crawl! At Portsmouth I got the usual groan before we went in. Two hours later I had to persuade them to come out, such was their fascination with this intriguing and deeply beautiful church.

I have a vision of Christ Church renewed and restored. By all means keep the good furniture (I’m told by my architectural advisers, Jeff and Juliet West of English Heritage, that the chancel furnishings and floor are George Gilbert Scott and very good. Great! I would like to see the choir back in the chancel!) But I also envisage a very attractive dais and altar at the crossing, and the nave and transepts furnished (if thought necessary) with comfortable, attractive and matching chairs.

3) Atmosphere: I have to say that the overall impression conveyed for much of the time is dark and rather dank, and somewhat stuffy. It feels first and foremost like a college chapel, but it somehow lacks the warmth of Magdalen or New College. But it should surely be the cathedral first, and the collegiate role should be parallel, if not secondary. The liturgy can come alive more, with a lighter touch and a greater sense of movement and involvement.

It could be made to work, certainly as the mother church of a smaller diocese, an idea I hope to be propounding in another article in another place (as they say in parliament). The other day I got my come-uppance! I attended the Michaelmas ordination, and found the service profoundly moving. I very much appreciated the dean’s comment in his opening remarks that religion brings out the best and the worst in people (eg it makes them want to worship but also makes them write letters of complaint!) We sang some truly wonderful hymns, beginning with the splendid ‘Christ, the fair glory of the holy angels’ and finishing with the outstanding ‘How shall I sing that majesty?’ sung to Coe Fen. However, everybody else I spoke to afterwards thought the hymns were absolutely dire, so maybe my taste is totally unreliable!

Gareth Miller lives and worships in Charlbury

Christopher Lewis (Dean of Christ Church) responds:

I enjoyed Gareth Miller’s criticisms and I am sad to say – sad, because editors like sharp cut and thrust – that I agree with much of what he writes. I am newer to the diocese than Gareth, although I was hereabouts (on the staff at Ripon College, Cuddesdon) once before and visited the cathedral occasionally in those days. I have a memory of preaching to an adjoining pillar, although I believe there was an attentive congregation somewhere around.

I reckon that there are at least three good things about the cathedral: its harmonious worship and music, its preaching of Christ, and the fact that it is a beautiful and strange place, different from all others in that it is a cathedral woven into a college. It would be unwise to compromise those three strengths. The Chapter, however, is currently reviewing just about everything else. In particular there is the question of enabling members of the diocese to identify with the cathedral and to enter it easily. I know that some people wish that the monks or Cardinal Wolsey or Henry VIII had built it somewhere else and with parking. Not much can be done about its geographical position, but other things can be changed, so there will be ‘membership cards’ for all who would like one; that should make access more natural and easy. And we are encouraging visits from parish and other groups. Honorary Canons and many of the volunteers who help at the cathedral can act as a helpful bridge. Come on the pilgrimage on Sunday 12 September! Changing the way in which people view the cathedral is, I realise, a longterm aim and I hope that the readers of The Door will help.

Then secondly, we are looking at the worship pattern and style. Here, as in other areas of the cathedral’s life, it is crucial to reflect on the different groups which see the cathedral as theirs: the diocese, the regular congregation and the college among them. I do not know how worship will look in a year’s time, but I imagine that it will not be quite the same.

Thirdly, there is the layout of the church and of the buildings around it. Strides have been made in this respect with more flexible lighting and with imaginative restoration of St Frideswide’s shrine and the chapels. Yet the cathedral building is still quite forbidding to enter and the layout could be more flexible so as to be available for a variety of events. Those kinds of changes can take time as they do in parish churches, but the will is there.

Any relationship has two sides. We have the determination to help the cathedral to be more suitable for people in general and for the diocese in particular. Then, on the other ‘side’, I hope that you will consider the cathedral when you are making policy and having ideas; as we include you in our plans, please include us in yours. The diocese needs focal points for its life; bishop and cathedral are central to the diocese being ‘one’.

Cathedrals can seem somewhat remote and self-justifying at times, but they have great potential, especially at a time when the winds of an apparently secular culture are cold. The task of proclaiming the Gospel has need of many different means. People can relate to cathedrals in a manner different from (and complementary to) the way in which they relate to other gathering points of the church. Cathedrals up and down the country are, perhaps to people’s surprise, places which can change and take risks in response to new Christian insights. Please pray for us as we will for you.