More than 20,000 people visited Swansea Minster during the three-week Gaia installation, bringing new audiences into the church and opening conversations about faith, creation and the future of the planet.

For three weeks, the sight of Earth suspended inside the Minster offered visitors a different perspective on the world around them. Some came to admire the artwork, others to experience the music and worship, or simply to spend time beneath the image of the planet we share.

But beyond the spectacle of the installation, the Gaia Creationtide Festival offered something potentially more enduring: an opportunity for the Minster to connect with thousands of people, including many who would not ordinarily visit a church.

Rev’d Canon Justin Davies described the festival as a celebration of faith expressed through creativity.

“The three weeks of the Gaia display in Swansea Minster has been a wonderful time of embracing the Christian faith as expressed through music and art,” he said.

“We have welcomed over 20,000 people in the Minster and had many opportunities to share our faith with people local to our city and beyond.”

The installation became a meeting point for different interests and perspectives, bringing together worship, the arts and organisations concerned with the natural world. Among those supporting the festival were Christian Aid, A Rocha, National Power and Nature Conservation.

Canon Justin thanked fellow clergy Rev’d Ian Folks and Rev’d Mark Thomas for their contribution to worship throughout the three weeks.

For him, the legacy of Gaia lies in the questions it has encouraged people to consider.

“I hope we have opened up conversation about the nature of the loving God in Creation, our responsibility to the planet and the care we need to take in handing it on well to future generations,” he said.

That sense of opening doors, both literally and figuratively, was central to the experience of those welcoming visitors.

Geraint Jones, Digital Communications Officer at Swansea Minster, said the festival had created opportunities to share the church and its faith with a wider audience.

“It was a joy and privilege to welcome tens of thousands of visitors through our doors during the Gaia Creationtide Festival, sharing the beauty of Swansea Minster and creating space for reflection, wonder, and conversation.

“A chance to share the glory of God and his creation with people who, often, have never considered visiting a church before. It was a huge privilege to be a part of.”

For the Minster, the significance of those encounters extends beyond the three weeks of the installation. Gaia brought people into a place of worship through a shared experience of art and creation, opening opportunities for conversations that might not otherwise have taken place.

The installation also invited a fresh perspective from those already familiar with the building.

Parishioner Liam Parry said the sight of the Earth suspended in the Minster had brought home the relationship between Christian belief and responsibility for the natural world.

“Experiencing Gaia at Swansea Minster over the past month has given me an opportunity to reflect on the beauty and fragility of God’s creation,” he said.

“Seeing Earth suspended within a place of worship was a powerful reminder that God’s creation extends far beyond the walls of our churches.

“As Christians, we are not simply observers of this world, we are part of it, entrusted with the responsibility to cherish and protect it.”

That message of responsibility gives the festival a significance beyond its three-week run. The installation itself may have been temporary, but the questions it raised — about humanity’s place in creation, the future of the planet and the role of faith in caring for it — remain.

For Liam, Gaia was also a reminder of the value of taking time to look beyond the routines of everyday life.

“For me, Gaia beautifully connected faith, creation and worship. It reminded me that sometimes we need to stop, look beyond our everyday lives and appreciate the extraordinary world God has given to us.”

He recalled the words of Psalm 24:1: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”

The Earth may no longer hang above the floor of Swansea Minster, but the festival has left behind more than memories of a remarkable artwork. It has brought thousands of people into contact with the church, created space for conversations about faith and the environment, and offered a reminder that caring for creation is a responsibility shared far beyond the walls of the Minster.

Delyth Higgins’s series of features on Gaia in Swansea concludes with God’s creation needs a voice. Read more about the installation.