St Paul's Cathedral reopens for sightseeing and resumes a full pattern of services

On Monday 13 July, St Paul's Cathedral reopened for sightseeing visits, and resumes a full pattern of services throughout the day. St Paul’s Cathedral has taken a number of measures to keep visitors, worshippers and staff safe, including PPE for staff, extra cleaning and physical distancing measures. For more detailed information on how the changes we’ve made, visit the Keeping your visit safe section of our website. 

St Paul’s Cathedral had been acting in accordance with Government and Church of England advice since the outbreak of COVID-19. On Tuesday 17 March, following the latest advice from the Church of England on the suspension of services, and updated Government information, the Cathedral decided to suspend all public services and tourism.

The Very Revd David Ison, Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral said at the time “St Paul's has been a sign of hope for the City of London for many centuries. We are determined this will continue. As a community we will keep praying for the needs of others, the city and the world. The Christian faith is that, no matter what happens, we can trust in the love of God for us and share that love with one another. As isolation is being encouraged in our society for reasons of physical health, so together with people of faith and no faith, we will be encouraging different ways of coming together for our mental and spiritual health.” 
Following updated advice from the Government and Church of England, we were able to open for private prayer only on Monday 15 June. From Saturday 4 July, the Eucharist was celebrated each day, and on Monday 13 July we were able to resume a full pattern of services each day, and welcome sightseeing visitors again. 

While the physical building was closed to visitors, worshippers and staff during lockdown, the Cathedral found new ways to continue our mission. Choir of the Nation saw people from across the world record hymns from their home and come together virtually to celebrate Palm Easter Sunday, VE Day and St George’s Day among others. We provided special orders of service and Evensong podcasts to worship at home. 

The Schools and Families team provided distance learning resources for parents and schools, and Singing Assemblies as part of Church of England's #FaithAtHome campaign for children and young people. 

Specially commissioned reflections from leading Christian thinkers provided words of comfort and inspiration during lockdown. The Hard Questions for Hard Times series responded to some of the difficult spiritual questions being asked during the pandemic. 

Now the physical building is open, St Paul’s Cathedral looks forward to welcoming visitors and worshippers through the Cathedral doors once more, and continue with its mission in new and innovative ways.