No Room at the Cathedral

Tonight, we went to the Christmas Eve Service at Exeter Cathedral. Barely.

The service was slated to begin at 6 pm. We arrived at about 10 minutes to six, and were promptly told that the church was full, and we couldn't come in. The building absolutely was not full, and there was enough room for another good 500 people (there were only about 50 who were shivering outside being told there wasn't room). Apparently, all the wasted space was necessary so that the happy little procession around the cathedral could take place. After about 40 minutes, one of the staff was kind enough to let us in, after some other people had left. We ended up in the far back corner of the right nave of the cathedral, near the designated "Exit" door. For reference, the cathedral has three doors: The main doors in the centre, and two smaller doors, one on each side. The one on the left is the designated entrance door, and the one on the right is the designated exit door. Typically, the centre door is not opened. However, at the end of the service, all three were opened for people to depart.

After we got inside, we were able to see most of the procession around the cathedral (which was ridiculous), and everyone in their full clerical uniforms (including the local bishop). Perhaps they should have been more concerned about getting people into the cathedral on Christmas Eve than they were about their silly little rituals.