Two years ago, an amazing article in a British newspaper told of how young people were converting to Christianity after visiting beautiful old churches. In fact, one study found that 13 percent of British teens “decided to become a Christian after a visit to a church or cathedral.”

If you’ve ever visited an old English church or one of its majestic cathedrals, you can understand why. The sense of transcendence, holiness, beauty, and history are palpable. These sacred spaces have given generations of worshipers a place to offer homage to God.

Apparently, the study had no effect on the leaders at the Cathedral of Rochester, who just announced their plan to attract more young people. They’ve decided to convert the inside of the cathedral into an adventure golf course.

Minigolf? As Rod Dreher remarked, you’d have better luck converting the church into a night club and holding a rave. By the way, a Liverpool cathedral did that already.

Here’s the lesson: whenever a church prioritizes marketing and seeks “relevance,” it risks losing the reason it exists in the first place.

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