Letter from the Dean

Dear member of the Cathedral community

We miss you!  These really are unprecedented times, and it is hard to be deprived of the ability to worship and meet together as we had become accustomed to do.  This email comes to you with the assurance of the prayers of the whole clergy and ministry team of the Cathedral.  We are particularly conscious that this is a lonely and anxious time for many of you, and we will be doing our best to make contact with as many people as possible by telephone.  Please feel free to ring us if we can help in any way, or you just want to hear another voice! 

Dean:  023 9282 4400

Canon Dr Jo Spreadbury:  023 9275 2335

Canon Kathryn Percival:  023 9289 2967

Now that the Cathedral building is ‘locked down’ we are acutely aware of how important such sacred spaces are for us, but also that the life of the church is not dependent on them.   Prayer is heard wherever it is offered, and God is with us in our homes as well as in our Cathedrals.  Prayer is not only about gathering together in numbers, but also about union with God, and the whole ‘company of heaven.’ 

Many of you are aware that my colleagues and I are now live streaming Morning and Evening Prayer from our homes, via Facebook.  The pattern remains the same as in my last communication, as follows:

Monday to Saturday:  8.15am Morning Prayer     5.30pm Evening Prayer

Sunday: 9.00am Holy Communion    5.30pm Evening Prayer

Do join us if you can. You do not need to be a member of Facebook to take part; when a service is due to start simply follow this link: https://www.facebook.com/portsmouthcathedral/  (Once you have arrived at our Facebook page, you will need to scroll down, and if you are not a member you will need to click a ‘not now’ button)  The text of Morning and Prayer is from Common Worship: Daily Prayer, and as well as a physical book it is also available on the Church of England website, and as a smartphone app simply called ‘Daily Prayer’.   The virtue of the app is that all the material needed, including the psalm and readings for the day, are gathered in one place. 

This coming Sunday at 9.00am I will lead a Communion service at the Deanery, with the help of my wife Clare, and we would be delighted for as many as possible to join us ‘virtually’.   After last week, many said how moving it was to see the Peace being shared through posting a message during the service.  I encourage you to use this facility to enhance the feeling of togetherness, even while we are physically separated. 

We are now offering additional spiritual resources online, details of which are below.  I will also keep in touch with you with news about such practical things as the APCM and the 2019 Accounts and Annual Report.  We continue to need your financial support more than ever, both for now and to ensure that when we reopen the Cathedral, we can do so on a sound financial footing. If you would normally give through the collection plate please consider joining our Planned Giving Scheme. 

Details about all the ways you can support us can be found on the following here.

I am particularly conscious that not everyone in the Cathedral community will be receiving this message as it is being delivered by e-mail and, with Cathedral House closed, we are not able to post copies at present.  If you are in touch with people not receiving communications such as this, but who are online, do encourage them go the Cathedral website and click the ‘subscribe to our weekly newsletter’ button. 

Finally, we are planning for what we can offer this year in Holy Week and Easter, and also for when our Cathedral can be reopened and we can gather together again.   By then, our sense of what is ‘normal’ will undoubtedly have shifted, and there will be much positive learning we can take from these difficult times.  One thing is certain, however; that the God who loved us into being will continue to love us – that is forever normal.

With my love, prayers and best wishes,

Anthony Cane
Dean of Portsmouth

The Dean’s letter can be downloaded here.

Education

As previously announced, Sarah Page, our Education Officer, is leaving us on 31st March. 

Kathryn Percival, the Canon Chancellor, says:  ‘Sarah has a wonderful combination of faith, teaching expertise, knowledge, imagination and flair, coupled with those essential children’s work qualities of being fun and down-to-earth.  Both we and the schools and families of our diocese have benefitted greatly from all she has brought to her role here.  March 31st was to have been the joyful launch event for the Pop Up Cathedral, and also an opportunity for us in the Cathedral community and beyond to say thank you to Sarah and to wish her well.  It is a real sadness for us not to be able to gather together to do this, but we are arranging for the occasion to be marked as best we can, both by post and virtually, and Sarah has the assurance of all our prayers and best wishes as she pursues new opportunities.’

Services and Resources

There is a new page on our website which contains

• Order of service used for our Sunday morning Holy Communion

• Prayer resources

• Craft and activity resources for families

Prayers and Intercessions

A prayer in Lockdown

This prayer was commissioned by the Association of English Cathedrals
to be used across England and written by Andrew Nunn, Dean of Southwark

The doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked (John 20.19)

Ever present God,
be with us in our isolation,
be close to us in our distancing,
be healing in our sickness,
be joy in our sadness,
be light in our darkness,
be wisdom in our confusion,
be all that is familiar when all is unfamiliar,
that when the doors reopen
we may with the zeal of Pentecost
inhabit our communities
and speak of your goodness
to an emerging world.

For Jesus’ sake.
Amen.

Cathedral Prayers

We remember all those affected by COVID-19
All those in need including: Bob, Barry, Tim, Derek, Joey, Nigel, Trevor, Roy, Emrys, Reuben, Neil and Andrew.
And those who have died: Barbara Dines, Paige Streeter and Anthony Trimmings RIP

Donations to Food Banks

At the present time we are unable to receive donations. Our local food banks do still need your support so when you are shopping for your essential items please consider making a donation of food in the containers in your local shops.

Easter Lilies

Thank you for your donations towards Easter Lilies. Details of arrangements for the Lily Book will be available before Easter. For further information please contact the Cathedral Offices.

Contacting the Cathedral

General Enquiries

Whilst the Cathedral and the offices remain closed our clergy and staff are working from home but can be contacted through their work emails or info@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk or by leaving a message on 023 9282 3300.

Pastoral Concerns

If you have any particular concern please use the contact numbers given by the Dean or email the Dean and Canons through pastoral@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk