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RESURRECTION HOPE

The Very Revd June Osborne, Dean (Tuesday 4th April 2006)

The spire of our Cathedral is the central image on the cover of a new book called “Dreaming Spires? Cathedrals in a New Age”. Indeed the book is also dedicated to a previous Dean of Salisbury as one who brought both a reforming energy and a sense of vision to the world of Cathedrals. This month we will enjoy that energy and vision of Cathedral life in at least two different ways. The Easter holidays see the beginning of our influx of visitors with many thousands pouring in over Easter weekend itself. It clearly isn’t just the beauty of our setting which makes an impact on such individuals. They take away something of the sacredness and “spirituality” of this place; which is why through the days of the Passion we do our best to help even the casual visitor to join in our journey of prayer and imagination as we again search out for ourselves the meaning of death and resurrection. Tourists or worshippers are also interested in the excellence of what we do in Cathedrals. Whatever criticism one has of a consumer or commodity view of life it means that people discriminate about what works for them and are unwilling to forego quality in Church as much as elsewhere. The professionalism of what we do is in that sense itself a missionary endeavour. Individuals also recognise that Cathedrals offer them an alternative form of inspiration and religious experience which seems to meet a need. Some of this Stephen Platten and Christopher Lewis explore in their new book, knowing that the popularity of Cathedrals doesn’t release us from asking what works for people. Some of this will also be in the air when the Deans of English Cathedrals, joined by some of their Celtic colleagues and guests including the Dean of Riga, come here for their annual conference at the end of the month. There’s a serious programme including worship, bible study and deliberations about the work of Cathedrals. However, the event chiefly exists to encourage the “Senior Priest” of each diocese to be a visionary leader, to look at the ways religious experience and religious expression is changing in Western Europe and to dream up new ways to proclaim our resurrection hope.

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