A New York Times article hailed the nearly 100-year-old Christian cathedral as a San Francisco “hot spot” that hosts large-scale yoga classes, drag shows, and other New Age-inspired events.
Heather Knight, San Francisco bureau chief for The Times Published the work Grace Cathedral, a Gothic-style Episcopal church built in 1927, has become increasingly popular in recent years as a venue for quirky community events, attracting even less-devout believers.
“But in recent years, they have boomed for reasons that have nothing to do with the Bible,” Knight wrote, explaining that they are attracting non-churchgoers and have nearly doubled their usual congregation in recent years.
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Inside Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. (San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images/Contributor)
According to a March U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey, San Francisco is the second least religious metropolitan area in the United States after Seattle, with 63% of adults in the city either not attending church or religious services less than once a year.
Knight wrote about how the cathedral created a program in 2022 called “Grace Arts,” which he described as “designed like a museum membership, charging an annual fee in exchange for benefits like discounts on classes and events.”
Events at Grace Arts include twice-weekly yoga classes, concerts and even performances by drag shows and trapeze artists.
The journalist described one of Grace Arts’ most unusual events: “Some people are finding community and joy by taking part in monthly sound baths at the cathedral, snuggling up in sleeping bags and listening to musicians perform by candlelight.”
Since the cathedral began the program, “Grace Arts members now outnumber general parishioners,” Knight wrote.
“Grace Arts has approximately 820 member households and 550 households that attend the church. Annual surveys show that the average age of Grace participants has dropped from 63 to 40 in just two years, indicating that this new program is attracting a younger generation.”
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In recent years, the church has seen an increase in new members eager to participate in new programs such as yoga classes, drag shows and other social events held at the church. (Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
For example, Knight writes about the appeal of yoga classes: “Kimberly Porter Leite volunteers at the Cathedral’s twice-weekly yoga classes, which are so popular that she has to do what she calls ‘mat tetris’ to get everyone to fit between the pillars and the chairs.”
Journalists noted that many of these new members were people who had strayed from traditional religions and were seeking community.
She spoke with yoga instructor Darren Main, a gay man who said he’d been “shamed by the Catholic Church,” who told her, “A lot of people here have left the church because they didn’t feel particularly welcome or safe, but they still need a place where they can be together for some reason other than arguing about politics.”
Knight also mentioned Kimberly Porter Leite, a lesbian volunteer in the class who, he wrote, was “married to a ‘recovering Catholic’ who was not religious and felt wronged by the church because she was a lesbian.”
“The cathedral was an unlikely place for her to spend time, but she lives nearby and knew of Grace’s reputation for being generous and welcoming. In 2021, she tried a yoga class and was hooked,” Knight added.
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The Rev. Malcolm Clemens Young, dean of Grace Cathedral, told The Times he was “heartened” by the diverse group of people attending the ceremony, including agnostics and atheists.
“We always say you belong before you believe, or you belong and never believe. There is a spiritual hunger. We always look up at the stars in wonder, and we always ask why we are here,” he said.
