Welcome from the Dean

When the Scottish historian Tom Devine was asked if he thought devolved government would eventually lead to the break-up of the United Kingdom, he replied ‘The future is not my period.’ A wise reply, given how difficult it is to predict what the future will hold – something we are all too aware of at the moment, in the midst of a pandemic of uncertain length and severity.

But while precise predictions are problematic, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t concern ourselves with what is to come. For example, David Attenborough is currently promoting his latest documentary, in which he paints a vision of the future in which we have learnt to work with nature rather than against it. Martin Luther King famously achieved social change through evoking a ‘dream’ of a future free of racism and prejudice. His speeches were full of biblical imagery, and of course at the heart of Jesus’s ministry was his proclamation of the coming Kingdom of God.

The new Cathedral Vision is about to be launched, in due humility given the status and power of the examples I’ve just given, but also with a sense of excitement and promise. To quote my own introduction to the Vision, it emphasizes ‘that we are a community always open to God’s will, affirming the good things of past and present, while also seeking further growth and development.’ We are ambitious in wanting to grow in a number of ways; in the number and diversity of our worshippers, in our action for social responsibility, in increasing our income, in connecting with the wider diocese, building more local partnerships, and more.

I invite you to read the Vision yourself from Sunday, including the examples of how we will be measuring our progress in achieving it. When we started work on this, I never dreamt the launch would be taking place in circumstances such as these. But so be it. As the journalist Gary Younge has written, ‘If nobody dreamed of a better world, what would there be to wake up to?’

The Very Revd Dr Anthony Cane
Dean of Portsmouth

Visiting the Cathedral

Opening Hours

The Cathedral continues to be open daily from 10.00am to 2.00pm and on Sundays from 11.45pm to 2.00pm, thanks to the support of our volunteers. You can find more information about what to expect when you visit, including the safety measures we are taking here.

Face Coverings in the Cathedral

It is now necessary to wear a face covering when you are in the Cathedral for any purpose, unless you are exempt under the Government regulations. If you do have an exemption, please let us know when you arrive, as you will still be most welcome to enter the building. 

Services at the Cathedral

As we move into autumn, our Sunday and weekly service pattern is changing to reflect the fact that we can now hold choral services and accommodate increased congregations in the Cathedral. We have worked carefully to plan how we can achieve this within Government and Church of England guidelines. This new pattern of worship will be in place for some weeks as we take a phased approach to restarting full public worship. Regrettably, congregational singing is still not permitted.

Monday-Saturday

Mondays: Holy Communion at 12noon
Tuesdays: Holy Communion at 12noon, Choral Evensong at 5.30pm
Wednesdays: Holy Communion at 12noon
Thursdays: Holy Communion at 12noon, Choral Evensong at 5.30pm
Fridays: Holy Communion at 12noon, Choral Evensong at 5.30pm
Saturdays: Holy Communion at 12noon

Sundays

8.00am Holy Communion (BCP)*
9.30am Eucharist (with a cantor)*
11.00am Choral Eucharist *
5.30pm Choral Evensong

*pre-booking available

Online Worship

Monday-Saturday                            

8.15am Morning Prayer                    
5.30pm Evening Prayer or Choral Evensong       
8.30pm Compline 

Sundays

8.00am Holy Communion (BCP)
11.00am Choral Eucharist
5.30pm Choral Evensong followed by refreshments on Zoom (no refreshments on Sunday 13 September)
8.30pm Compline

All our services of Choral Evensong will be broadcast online.

How to join the services

Service are broadcast on Facebook. You do not need to be a member of Facebook to join, simply use this link when the service is about to begin. You will see a prompt asking you to join Facebook; just click ‘not now’.

Orders of Service

Orders of service can be found on the Resources Section of our website here.

Prayers and Intercessions

Cathedral Prayers

We pray for all those affected by COVID-19.

We remember the following for whom prayer has been asked by members of the Cathedral Community: Christopher, Clare, Sally, David, Bob, Derek, Nigel, Trevor, Izzy, Jenny, Des, (baby) Jonah, George, Clare, Bishop Peter Hancock, Florence, Alan, Lawrence, Joey and all those in need.

All those who have died: Jack Owens, Robin Spruce, Jim Flamank and Canon Brian Cook RIP.

To add someone to the prayer list, please email info@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk

In the notices this week:

• Annual Parochial Church Meeting and Elections

• Archdeaconry Consultations

• Welcoming back our choirs

• BBC Radio 3 Choral Evensong

• Lunchtime Live returns

• Dean Anthony cycles the Isle of Wight for Ride and Stride

• Harvest Festival

• Ordination of our Cathedral Curate

• Christmas Market 2020

• Online Resources

• Cathedral Offices

• Fabric Advisory Committee Meeting

• Finance and Investment Committee News

• Safeguarding News

• Thank you for supporting Portsmouth Cathedral

Annual Parochial Church Meetings and Elections

This Sunday we are holding our Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) at 12.30pm via Zoom. Everyone who is a member of the Electoral Roll is welcome to join. The agenda is available here.

Details of how to join the APCM on Zoom have been posted to members of the Electoral Roll. If you have not yet received this, please email info@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk and we will gladly email you the details.

Elections

• Churchwardens: the annual election of two churchwardens will be held at the meeting of parishioners. Following the 2018 revision of the Constitution and Statues one Churchwarden is also elected to serve as a lay member of Chapter whilst holding the office of Churchwarden. Should the person holding this appointment not be re-elected then a further election (for a Churchwarden serving as a lay member of Chapter) will be held. The nomination form for churchwarden is here, and for churchwarden serving as a lay member of Chapter here.

• Deanery Synod: representatives of Deanery Synod will be elected at the APCM. Our thanks to the current representatives: June Purvis, Kitty Price and Marion Syms. For more information about this role please contact Canon Kathryn Nomination forms are available here.
  

Launching the new Cathedral Vision

The APCM will include the launch of our new Cathedral Vision which the Dean and his team have been working on throughout 2020.

Annual Accounts

The 2019 Annual Accounts are now available here and on display in the Cathedral.

Annual Reports

Copies of the Annual Reports have been posted to everyone on the Electoral Roll. You can also read them on the website here.

Archdeaconry Consultations

Our diocese is holding a series of Archdeaconry Consultations, and the consultation for Portsdown is at 2-3.30 pm on Saturday 19 September. The consultations are open to all members of congregations, and will include a presentation on the diocesan vision and strategy as well as a question and answer session. The consultations will be held by Zoom, and a link can be obtained from Lauren McDermott: lauren.mcdermott@portsmouth.anglican.org Questions will be taken from the floor, but if you have a particular question you would like to ask, please email it to Lauren by 16 September.

Welcoming back our choirs

It has been a huge pleasure to welcome back our Cathedral Choirs to sing together and lead choral services for the first time since March.

Dean Anthony writes:

‘I am delighted to be welcoming back our wonderful choirs. Choral music is a key part of Cathedral life and worship, helping us into a deeper experience of the beauty and peace of God. You would be most welcome at any of our choral services, many of which are also available online.

We have been keeping in touch with our choristers and their families through online rehearsals, but there is only so much that can be done using technology. All our choristers, Lay Clerks, Choral Scholars and Music Staff are thrilled to be singing together again:

‘I can’t wait to get back to singing in our stalls once again, and having the opportunity to sing to our cathedral congregations in person!’ Jake, Head Chorister

‘I can’t wait to be singing evensong again as we used to and being so fortunate as to be able to do it back in the Cathedral!’ Lavinia, Head Chorister

We have done a huge amount of planning and preparation to ensure the choral singing is safe for our choirs, music department and those attending services. Covid precautions include social distancing, using smaller groups of musicians as well as regular cleaning and use of hand sanitiser.

We hope you can join us to hear our choirs in person soon. The music list is available on our website.

BBC Radio 3 Choral Evensong

We are delighted to announce that Radio 3 will be broadcast Choral Evensong from Portsmouth Cathedral live on Wednesday 23 September at 3.30pm. This will be their first broadcast of a Cathedral Choir and the first from an English Cathedral outside of London since lockdown.

Please do listen via your radio or on the BBC Radio 3 website. With regret, this service will not be open to a physical congregation.

Lunchtime Live returns

This week we were delighted to welcome Carl Grainger to give the first recital in the autumn Lunchtime Live series. This term we will be welcoming a variety of pianists, organists and string players. All recitals will take place in the Nave at 1.10pm on Thursdays, lasting for up to 50 minutes.

Admission is free with retiring collection. Please note that we are unable to offer refreshments until further notice.

Dean Anthony cycles round the Isle of Wight for Ride and Stride

The annual Ride and Stride will be taking place on Saturday 12 September, raising money for the Hampshire and the Islands Historic Churches Trust (HIHCT) which work to preserve our region’s historic churches and chapels of all denominations. The event invites people to walk, cycle, drive, ride or run to as many churches in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight as you wish in one day, whilst raising sponsorship money for the HIHCT.

Dean Anthony will be taking part and attempting to cycle to as many churches in the Isle of Wight as possible! You can sponsor his efforts online here. Half of your donations will go to the Cathedral and half to the HIHCT.

The Cathedral will be open and welcoming Ride and Stride participants during the day.

Harvest Festival

Our Harvest Festival will be celebrated on Sunday 27 September. More details will be shared soon.

Ordination of our Cathedral Curate

Following her licensing as a Lay Minister in July, Catherine Edenborough will now be ordained Deacon in the Cathedral by the Bishop of Portsmouth at 3pm on Saturday 10 October. Numbers in the building will be strictly limited, but the service will be livestreamed so that as many people as possible can support her through prayer and worship on this very special occasion.  Further details to follow.

Christmas Market

We have now launched applications for local independent traders, artists, craftspeople and businesses to buy a table at our Christmas Market on Saturday 5 December. If you know someone who might be interested, please do share our Traders Information, available here.

How else can you help?

• Volunteer – we will need extra volunteers this year in a number of roles including as a steward and helping to set up and take down the Market. If you’d like to volunteer at this year’s Market, please email Sophie.Henstridge-Brown@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk

• Make preserves – during this traditional season for preserve making, please do make jams, marmalades, honey, curds and chutneys for the Preserves stall.

• Collect donations – of Christmas decorations and silk flowers for the Flower Guild stall, bottles for the bottle tombola and chocolate for the children’s chocolate tombola. Please set aside contributions at home and details of how to donate will be given closer to the time. Requests for baked goods will be made closer to the time.

• Please note that this year we will not be inviting donations of books and CDs, clothes and jewellery, chocolate, children’s clothes and toys, china and glassware, toiletries and needlework.

Online Resources

A reminder that resources for prayer, worship, and family activities at home can be found on our website here

Cathedral Offices

To comply with Government guidance and ensure a safe working environment for our staff and volunteers, only a limited number of individuals may be in the Cathedral Offices at any one time.  Staff are on a rota and therefore may be working at home instead of in the office. It will therefore be necessary to call or email ahead to make appointments rather than dropping by as was our practice. The same warm welcome awaits, but in a slightly more planned way because of our Covid precautions.

Fabric Advisory Committee Meeting

The next meeting of the Cathedral’s Fabric Advisory Committee takes place on Tuesday 15 September. The agenda is here.

Finance and Investment Committee News

The Finance and Investment Committee met on  8 September 2020. The Committee noted progress made to contain expenditure and welcomed the support of Covid-related one off grants from a number of organisations including the City of Portsmouth, the Edington Festival Award, the Church Commissioners and donations from members of the congregation. The Committee also noted though that the underlying operating deficit is still an issue both this year and in future years and it must remain the priority to bring the Cathedral back to a balanced budget in the near future.

Safeguarding News

The Cathedral Safeguarding Meeting took place on  10 September 2020,. The Committee reviewed progress on the development of a memorandum of understanding with the Diocese, including an information sharing agreement, agreed ways to enhance our safeguarding procedures and identified next steps for the SCIE audit now due to take place next June. The focus of the next meeting will be SCIE audit preparations

Thank you for supporting Portsmouth Cathedral

A huge thank you to everyone who has responded generously to our requests to consider your support of Portsmouth Cathedral. Since March over twenty people have committed to making their regular donations or increasing their regular support. Many have also made one off donations to help us through this difficult time.

Thank you for your generosity and your trust.

If you would like to find out more about supporting Portsmouth Cathedral, speak with our Head of Fundraising Sophie Henstridge-Brown on Sophie.Henstridge-Brown@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk or look at our website.

Getting in touch

We know that this is a lonely and anxious time for many people. Please feel free to get in touch if we can help in any way, or if you just want to hear another voice!                                                                                                                     

The Dean: 023 9282 4400 or Anthony.Cane@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk

Canon Jo Spreadbury 023 9275 2335 or Jo.Spreadbury@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk

Canon Kathryn Percival: 023 9289 2967 or Kathryn.Percival@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk

Messages can also be left on the Cathedral phone system 023 9282 3300 or by email to info@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk or pastoral@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk.