A reflection from Dean Anthony

 
In my sermon at the ordination of priests last Saturday, I mentioned a powerful new play about Church of England clergy, The Southbury Child. The central character is a vicar who has to leave his parish, after becoming a source of controversy over a matter of integrity. There are some fairly obvious parallels with unfolding events in public life, and it raises questions for all of us about the kinds of issue for which we would be prepared to make a stand.
 
In The Southbury Child, the vicar refuses to allow his church to be decorated with Disney balloons for the funeral of the eponymous child. Speaking to friends at the end of the performance, and then reading the reviews, many thought balloons at a funeral was not a convincing enough issue for someone to go to the stake over. The playwright Stephen Beresford, however, says that his play is based on a real incident. I don’t doubt this, but still wonder whether it was the right one to fasten on for his drama.
 
My advice to the newly ordained priests was that balloons are probably not the right kind of issue on which to make a principled stand. There may be those reading this who will disagree! My comment, however, is based on more than three decades of priestly ministry, during which I have come to value integrity more and more. I have occasionally come across really gifted people whose lack of integrity and trustworthiness massively impaired their effectiveness. On the other hand, I have also seen a number of situations where communities have been riven by the destructive behaviour of individuals convinced they were acting according to the highest principles.
 
So yes, living with integrity is absolutely vital, but it is also true that part of the human condition is the ability to deceive ourselves and get it wrong. In deciding when and where to make a stand, prayers for wisdom and discernment are an absolute necessity. For our new priests, and for all us (including those in public life) there are many encouraging biblical texts that emphasise the integrity and faithfulness of God – such as 1 Thessalonians 5.24: ‘The one who calls you is faithful.’ It is a relief that know when we fail and get it wrong, God will never fail us.
 
With my prayers and best wishes,

The Very Reverend Dr Anthony Cane,
Dean of Portsmouth

Highlights this week...

• Final ‘Six works that changed the world’ lecture – Monday. 7:30pm

• Sea Sunday service on BBC Radio 4 – this Sunday, 8:10am

Upcoming dates for your diary…

• Portsmouth & Hampshire Art Society Summer Exhibition – Daily from 30 July to 10 August

• Weston Jennings Organ Recital on Thursday – 4 August, 1:10pm

• The Wild Cathedral Sensory Garden – Daily from 16 August to 3 September

Sea Sunday on BBC Radio 4

 
This week we hosted the BBC for a recorded Radio 4 Sunday Service and a live Radio 3 Choral Evensong. Our Cathedral Choir (Girls) will be recorded a BBC Radio 4 Sunday Worship programme which will be broadcast on Sea Sunday (10 July), with the Chaplain of The Fleet preaching.

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Summer organ recital with Weston Jennings, 4 August starts at 1:10pm  

While our Lunchtime Live series is taking a break for the summer, we are delighted to welcome American organist Weston Jennings to give a one-off lunchtime recital. Weston Jennings is Director of Music and Organist of First Presbyterian Church in Tyler, TX, and a former organ scholar of Canterbury and Chelmsford Cathedrals. He is now an internationally acclaimed performer, having given recitals in Washington, Denver, Oxford, Moscow, Berlin and many other prestigious venues.
 
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Paint back the past – the final piece!

A huge thank you to all those who participated in our ‘Paint Back the Past’ community art project, as part of Ports Fest 2022. The installation had many visitors across the weekend who helped create a doodling masterpiece on the 2 blank boards. A special thank you from Jemima to our volunteers including Ronald Rabbetts, and members of the staff team for their help with putting together the installation.

See more upcoming events →

Choir Farewells

As we come to the close of another academic year, we bid farewell to a number of our choir members. This year has been an exceptionally formative one for our choirs, as we seek to recover so much lost ground and musical memory post-Lockdowns and our senior boy and girl choristers have been key to that recovery alongside our Gap Year team.

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Chapter meets on Tuesday

The meeting will include a Safeguarding training session for Chapter carried out by the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor as well as the annual review of the Cathedral's safeguarding policy. The agenda for the meeting may be found on our downloads page.

Help for Ukrainian Refugees

Our Diocese, working with Citizens UK, has committed to finding 50 hosts for Ukrainian refugees, together with others to befriend and support. If you would like to know more, visit the Diocese website or speak to Canon Nick Ralph.

Foodbank Donations

Many families are feeling the struggle of the recent cost of living crisis, your support of the Roberts Centre Foodbank has never been more important. Following a recent delivery of your donations, the Roberts Centre have suggested the following as being as most needed:

• Cereals

• Long-life or powdered milk

• Tinned food eg. veg, meat, meals

• Nappies

Please bring your donations to the Foodbank collection point in the Welcome Area during the Cathedral’s daily opening hours.

Worship and Visiting

Portsmouth Cathedral is open daily for prayer, services and visiting. Booking is not required for services, unless otherwise indicated. You can find out more about visiting on our website, where you can also download orders of service or find our Covid-19 visitor information.

Visiting Choirs

As our choristers take a well-deserved rest from this week through to September, we thank Cathedral Consort for covering some July services - as well as a number of visiting choirs who will be leading our worship during the Summer break.
All details of their music and pattern of services to be found in our Service List →

Prayers and Intercessions

We remember the following for whom prayer has been asked by members of the Cathedral Community: Tom, Beverley, Richard, Jane, Alan, Amanda, Derek, Lucy, Martin, Jean, Alan, Rita, Graeme, Joan, John, and all those in need.

Long-term sick including: Alison, Clifford, Christopher, Johnny, Jane, Melissa, Suzy, Bob, Sarah, Izzy, Libby, Andrew, Peter, and Rachel.

We pray for those who have died recently: Matthew Jackson, Denise Goppelt and Canon Alan Wilkinson (Chichester Cathedral Funeral 12 July at 11am) RIP.

Upcoming Services & Events

Getting in touch

Please feel free to get in touch if we can help in any way, or if you just want to hear another voice!

Get in touch with us by email to pastoral@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk or leave a message via phone on 023 9282 3300.

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