A Consecration at Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral is a parish church cathedral. Fourteen English cathedrals are parish churches at the same time as being a cathedral. The other twenty eight English cathedrals have no parish responsibilities.

Nearly all parish church cathedrals are ancient churches which were consecrated as cathedrals when new dioceses were created at the end of the nineteenth century after large population growth and movement. Southwark Cathedral traces its direct history as a Christian church back to 606. Little is certain about its role before that. It became a cathedral in 1905.

A parish exists in English law as the neighbourhood of a church where the residents have certain rights and privileges for oversight and assistance from the Church of England. A parish is a relatively small local area. [A diocese is very large and has many parishes. The diocese of Southwark has 298 parishes, 378 churches and covers the area from the river Thames roughly to Gatwick airport and Kingston to Thamesmead, a population of 2.5 million people.

People living within a parish have the right to ask for baptisms, weddings and funerals and to approach the clergy of the church for any help. In Southwark this work is principally the responsibility of the Canon Pastor.

The boundaries of the Southwark Cathedral parish are quite complex but roughly extend from the middle of the river Thames in the north to Newcomen Street and Union Street in the south, from Great Suffolk Street in the west to Weston Street and Battle Bridge Lane in the east. This is only approximate. It is important to check with the Cathedral staff before assuming exactly where the boundaries lie.

People living in the United Kingdom can 'adopt' a parish where they are not living within its geographical boundary by regularly attending church and registering their membership of the church's Electoral Roll. The actual legal term is 'habitually worshipping', which the Cathedral staff usually interpret to mean about once a month as a minimum. People may join the Roll who attend Sunday services regularly or they may be people who work in the area and regularly attend weekday services. Anyone is permitted to belong to two church Electoral Rolls (e.g. where they live and are at weekends and where they work and go to church on weekdays.) Membership of the Electoral Roll means people have been baptised and are over sixteen years of age. It carries the right to vote at the church's annual meeting (which is always just after Easter). Members of the Roll may stand for election to the Cathedral Chapter and Cathedral Council and they may stand for membership of Cathedral Chapter committees. Information about joining the Electoral Roll is available from the Dean's Secretary in the Cathedral Office or any of the clergy. It is best to ask them after any Cathedral service.