WITH nearly half a million visitors to Glasgow Cathedral every year, it might not have been surprising that when services moved online there was an initial audience of more than 25,000 last year.

And while Reverend Mark Johnstone knows people do appreciate his weekly sermons, he realised the healthy figure was due, in part, to timing of the city cathedral appearing on the BBC’s Songs of Praise which had been shown shortly before lockdown.

While services didn’t sustain five figure audiences on a weekly basis, there have still been hundreds of people watching online from all over the world with services regularly attracting audiences of a 1000.

Read more: Glasgow restaurant awarded Michelin star as accolade returns to city for first time in 18 years

“Glasgow Cathedral has such a universal appeal and because we are a gathered church as well as a parish church, we had people viewing our online services from all over the world. I had one lady who got in touch from Australia to say she had been watching,” said Rev Johnstone.

“Online services had been something that had been talked about for some time in the church and was maybe one of those things which was thought of as something we should really get round to, but the situation we found ourselves in last year really forced the issue.”

Mr Johnstone is now adept at recording his sermons from the pulpit sadly without members of the congregation filling the pews. Through his facebook live tours of the cathedral he has been able to keep people connected as well as giving them a little history lesson in the process and also recorded a cathedral tour podcast.

The oldest cathedral on mainland Scotland dating back to the 12th Century, it is also the final resting place of the patron saint of Glasgow St Mungo. Cared for by Historic Environment Scotland, it is also the only church to have survived the reformation without its roof being removed.

Read more: Restaurants where you can eat Michelin star food in Scotland

It has also taken a starring role in Hollywood movies as it was used as a location for the Vanessa Hudgens film The Princess Switch: Switched Again in 2020.

“It is part of city’s heritage and people have a real fondness and appreciation for Glasgow Cathedral. We have people who visit from all over the world but it is also a place where people come to worship every week,” added Mr Johnstone.

Mr Johnstone has been in the ministry for 30 years and it was his chosen vocation, although he did have a notion of becoming an actor at one point, and has steered the cathedral through the pandemic.

Reverend Mark Johnstone, of Glasgow Cathedral, has been keeping the cathedral community together

Reverend Mark Johnstone, of Glasgow Cathedral, has been keeping the cathedral community together

“There is no doubt the pandemic has had an impact on us and what we do and it has changed the way I am able to fulfil my role. There are elements to pastoral support such as visiting people in hospital and to reach out to them that just haven’t been possible,” added Mr Johnstone, who is supporting The Herald’s campaign to create a memorial garden as a tribute to Scots who have lost their lives to coronavirus. So far we have raised more than £40,000 for the project which will be located in Glasgow’s Pollok Country Park. He said he was “only too aware of the need to facilitate a time of remembrance when we feel we have seen an end to this current threat.”

While clap for the NHS was running on Thursday evenings last year, Mr Johnstone felt it was particularly poignant for the cathedral to mark given its close proximity to Glasgow Royal Infirmary where dozens of medics were caring for those with covid. He made a point of ringing a bell every week and the cathedral is linked even further to the medical profession as it has a dedicated nurses chapel.

Mindful that not everyone was able to watch services online, Mr Johnstone has been careful to include people who might otherwise feel disconnected and sent letters on a DVD and at Christmas time sent 300 cards to every member of the congregation.

“I think it has been great that we developed an online community, but we had to be careful that we still kept a sense of community and that as we emerge out of these times that we still have a congregation and community. Church is all about community and a sense of belonging.”

It is one reason why this week regular parishioners will be invited to join in a virtual coffee morning after the service has aired online.

“It was something we wanted to try and had a Zoom coffee morning with the idea that people would watch online at the same time, but this week we have adapted it and will be having a Zoom call after the service with a core of our parishioners. They will be sent personal invites and can come on for a bit of a chat as a way to reconnect.”