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.