England's cathedrals are starting to offer "fairground frivolities" as a way of encouraging visitors - and their donations, Erasmus writes. What limits exist on how a place of prayer can be used?
'On a rain-drenched summer morning Rochester Cathedral is an ideal place to take shelter, and then enter another world. It is perhaps the finest surviving example of the thrilling Norman architecture that took hold in England after William the Conqueror landed in 1066. Friendly volunteers point out medieval graffiti and the frescoed ceiling, half-destroyed by iconoclasts in the 1650s. In the nave there is an even bigger surprise: young families enjoying a miniature putting green that fits neatly between the stone arches.
The “educational adventure golf course”, offered free of charge this month, includes models of the region’s famous bridges and is fully in keeping with the cathedral’s 1,400-year-old role as a “centre of learning” where people can “take part in a fun activity in what for many might be a previously unvisited building,” explains a breezy announcement. Visitors might also “reflect on the bridges that need to be built in their own lives and in the world,” it adds, lest anyone think this is a purely secular diversion.' ... Keep reading on The Economist
'On a rain-drenched summer morning Rochester Cathedral is an ideal place to take shelter, and then enter another world. It is perhaps the finest surviving example of the thrilling Norman architecture that took hold in England after William the Conqueror landed in 1066. Friendly volunteers point out medieval graffiti and the frescoed ceiling, half-destroyed by iconoclasts in the 1650s. In the nave there is an even bigger surprise: young families enjoying a miniature putting green that fits neatly between the stone arches.
The “educational adventure golf course”, offered free of charge this month, includes models of the region’s famous bridges and is fully in keeping with the cathedral’s 1,400-year-old role as a “centre of learning” where people can “take part in a fun activity in what for many might be a previously unvisited building,” explains a breezy announcement. Visitors might also “reflect on the bridges that need to be built in their own lives and in the world,” it adds, lest anyone think this is a purely secular diversion.' ... Keep reading on The Economist