Abstract:
This study was designed to test the hypothesis that events such as the Christmas Eve Carol
Services at Liverpool Cathedral that include some regular churchgoers (people who attend
services most weeks) and much larger numbers of occasional visitors (who may attend church
only once or twice a year) make a significant impact on the psychological health and wellbeing
of the participants. Using a repeat-measure design, participants were invited to complete
a copy of the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire while they were waiting for the service to begin
and then to complete a second copy during a five-minute organ improvisation just before the
close of the service. Data provided by 802 participants who completed both copies of the
instrument demonstrated a significantly higher score on the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire
at time two than at time one, suggesting that attendance at the service had exerted a positive
impact on psychological health and well-being.
CONTRIBUTION : Situated within the science of cathedral studies, this article demonstrates by
means of a repeated-measure study that cathedrals can make a significant impact on the
psychological health and well-being of the wider community served by them. The same wellbeing
measure was completed by 802 participants at the Christmas Eve Carol Services before
and after the event, with a significant increase in scores at time two.
Description:
The authors are participating
as research fellows in the
project, ‘Biblical Theology
and Hermeneutics’, directed
by Prof. Dr Andries G. van
Aarde, Senior Research
Fellow in the Dean’s Office at
the Faculty of Theology and
Religion of the University of
Pretoria, South Africa.
