Cathedrals today face a paradox: on the one hand they represent one of the biggest success stories and mission opportunities of the present-day church; on the other they face seemingly insurmountable financial difficulties, and are largely left by the church and government to fend for themselves.

Many—both within and outside the church—argue that cathedrals are an irrelevance. But cathedrals are one area of the church’s life where increasingly the unchurched and the half-believer encounter God, and where the institutions of our society instinctively engage with the Christian gospel, making them truly missional in their occupation of a spiritually liminal space.

Holy Ground digs deep into the life of England’s cathedrals, and discusses such diverse topics as finance, growth, heritage, liturgy, development, music and art.

n