CV NEWS FEED // The historic National Cathedral in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington decided to drop its $7 fee for “advance passes” to its Advent and Christmas services after the policy was met with backlash.
The Episcopal Church’s Washington National Cathedral, where many state funerals have taken place historically, announced on November 27 that it would be charging $7 to purchase tickets, or “advance passes,” to the cathedral’s upcoming services during Advent and Christmas.
One day later on November 28, the cathedral issued a Policy Update retracting the servicing fee, explaining that advance passes are still required to attend the services but payment will be by-donation.
“After hearing concerns from members of the community, we realize that a required processing fee for passes to some holiday services is a barrier to worship. That was never our intent, and we apologize,” the National Cathedral’s update read:
Since 2009, we have used advance passes, and charged a small processing fee, for reserved seating at our most popular services. The processing fees helped to defray the cost of managing ticketing for thousands of seats.
Reserved passes also help us address strict capacity limits and safety requirements for the large crowds who come to the Cathedral each year. However, we never want finances to be a barrier to worship at the Cathedral, and it is clear that this fee has become a barrier.
The National Cathedral has also offered to issue refunds to any people who had already purchased advance passes.
The National Cathedral seats about 4,000 people. In 2022 the National Cathedral reported an average weekly attendance of 423.
The significant decline of Episcopalians in the United States has made it more difficult to keep the National Cathedral in good shape.
