Recently I was at the Carboard Cathedral for several services. As I was walking up to the Cathedral I could not help but notice the stadium towering behind it. The Carboard Cathedral looks tiny in comparison with the stadium. In a sense this picture of the stadium overshadowing the Cathedral perfectly represents our time.

People have long been involved in competitive physical pursuits. In some periods of history sport has become a spectacle and monumental buildings have been constructed to allow spectators to view the competition. The stadium at Olympia in Ancient Greece was one of the first such structures. There the Olympic Games were held in honour of the Greek god Zeus. Religion and sports were closely interwoven. Stadia soon spread throughout the Greek and Roman world. The hippodromes for chariot racing were immense structures that could hold thousands of people. It was the Romans who later developed the amphitheatre, which was a combination of the theatre and the stadium, somewhere where entertainment could be viewed. This entertainment often involved some physical competition, most famously of course the gladiator fights.

Large structures have also been unearthed in other spheres, indicating that cultures across the world had spaces to watch spectacles, many probably involving sporting competitions of some sort. However, few ancient cultures came close to the Greek and Roman fascination with sport.

During the medieval period stadia and amphitheatres fell into disrepair. Far more importance was given to castles, palaces and churches. These were the symbols that shaped society. With such an influence the Church shaped the imagination of society, but also opened itself to abuse and a lack of humility.

Today commercial buildings and large entertainment complexes dominate the city skyline. With that their place in society is also prominently displayed. It is fascinating to ponder what draws thousands of people together in one place for a joint experience. For us it may be obvious that people would want to watch 30 men throwing a ball around for 80 minutes. But this requires a lot of culturally-shared knowledge to make sense of, and even more experience to affect us at an emotional level. And yet this mass experience has shaped professional sports more than any athletic exercise. The founder of the modern Olympic Games, Pierre Coubertin, saw sports as the secular future of transcendent experiences for the masses.

Maybe it is right that the Church occupies a humbler place in modern society. Nevertheless, those who have received the Good News must also remember that their identity is now in Christ.

With plans to partially restore the Cathedral in the Square, I wonder what message that building will send. Is it a church that remembers its former splendour, but has been hurt? Is it of a church that is no longer at the centre of society, but at its margin?