About St Edmundsbury Cathedral

St Edmundsbury Cathedral is Suffolk’s cathedral and stands in the heart of Bury St Edmunds. We are part of the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich which was founded in 1914.

 

We are open to all who need us.

 

The Cathedral is a centre of worship and mission. A place for pilgrimage and pastoral care. Our building is a place of heritage and a venue for learning and exploration. Our vision is to be a sacred space which transforms lives for the next thousand years.

Our Values

Our values inform how we do things and are values that can be lived. We hold our Benedictine principles close – principles such as love, care, hospitality and community – and are presenting these values in a way that relates to and can be easily understood in the 21st century. They are about how we work with each other, how we talk about the Cathedral, and how we reach out to the whole of Suffolk and beyond. These values are:

 

Faith

In God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and God’s unconditional love for all people. This is our Christian conviction, and it is what defines and shapes us.

 

Welcome

To friends and to strangers; to people of all faiths and none; to those with whom we agree and disagree – building a culture of openness and collaboration and generosity across the county.

 

Compassion

Working alongside people in need, expressing love, tolerance and respect through our actions.

 

Confidence

To challenge wrongs; to be honest about who we are and what we stand for; to be daring in what we do, how we do it and who we do it with.

Values at St Edmundsbury Cathedral

Areas of Work

We have four key areas of work:

 

Worship

We worship God through the Anglican musical and liturgical tradition. Over the next ten years, we want to grow the congregation, nature and broaden our choral tradition and offer different styles of worship for an increasingly diverse congregation. More here.

 

Mission

We play a role in the community we serve and we want to be increasingly outward looking. We want to be a centre for learning, both for the Christian faith and beyond. We remain committed to helping towards a more caring and just society. More here.

 

Hospitality

We are a welcoming, non-partisan space that offers compassion and sanctuary, We want everyone who comes here to have an enriching spiritual and cultural encounter, whatever their faith. More here.

 

Sustainability

We have an important role in promoting green practice and commitment to environmental action. We need to ensure the continuing sustainability of the cathedral for years to come, and be on the path to carbon neutrality by 2030. More here.

For more on the Cathedral and our goals, please read our ten year Masterplan.