Cathedral’s new pitch to youth? Crazy golf
A CATHEDRAL has been criticised by traditionalists after it revealed plans to install a crazy golf course in its nave.
Visitors to the 900-yearold Rochester Cathedral, in Kent, will be invited for a game at the nine-hole course this summer.
Anglican leaders hope such innovations will appeal to younger people and increase congregation numbers, which have declined by up to 20 per cent in the past decade.
Other cathedral initiatives include a 40ft helter-skelter in Norwich and a gin and prosecco festival at Peterborough.
However, critics have questioned whether these ideas are in keeping with a medieval institution. Bishop Michael Nazir-ali, a former prelate at Rochester, told The Mail On Sunday: “These are places where people come to pray to God, and you have to ask whether these events are befitting.”
A priest, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “It does smack of dumbing down a bit.”
The indoor golf course, due to open in August, is being paid for by the Rochester Bridge Trust, a local charity.
Simon Lace, chapter clerk at the cathedral, said: “We are trying to draw in new visitors and raise our profile. It is a short-term opportunity to enjoy a wonderful building in a new way.”
Last year Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said: “If you can’t have fun in a cathedral, do you really know what fun is?”
His comment came after Sue Jones, the Dean of Liverpool, was criticised for a Hallowe’en service during which the canon of missions was wheeled into the cathedral in a coffin.
A Church of England spokesman said: “We are very supportive of innovative ways to make buildings accessible to a new audience. [Cathedrals] are open seven days a week and, alongside regular worship, have the size and draw to host large-scale events.”
Not since Simon de Montfort rode into the church in 1264 during a baronial rebellion against King Henry III and stabled his army’s horses in the monastic buildings has there been such consternation at Rochester Cathedral. A crazy golf course is being installed in the nave apparently to attract young people as congregation numbers continue to fall. In a Norfolk church, the congregation will be enticed by the presence of a helter-skelter, though presumably not encouraged to use it during the service. Cathedrals in medieval times were the centres of the local community and were not reserved solely for worship any more than they are today. But even our forefathers drew the line somewhere.