A reflection from Canon Nick

 
Today is a significant day! It is Trinity Sunday, the apex of the Church’s theological year and it is also Music Sunday. Trinity Sunday is one of the great festivals of the church. It is also the Sunday on which every image used to try and describe the Trinity is, at one level, heretical – because none of them, and none of us, can adequately describe the Trinity. What we can do, however, is make the attempt to try and make some headway towards a better understanding. This stuff matters because what we understand about God, affects what we understand about ourselves and how we relate to one another. God is love, means that love is fundamental also to us and that requires us to behave in certain ways and not others.
 
Writing, art, and music all help us to glimpse something of the transcendent God, without ever grasping it fully and it is particularly appropriate that we should celebrate today with music. Wherever you are reading this, take time today to appreciate and give thanks for beauty in art, writing and music – particularly music written by composers inspired by their faith, the instrument makers who made organs and other instruments, and the performers who play, sing and direct, who help to transport us to a different level of engagement with the divine.
 
The Reverend Canon Nick Ralph,
Residentiary Canon

Community News

Jubilee Celebrations – thank you!

Last weekend we joined with hundreds of people from around our community to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. With a selection of events and services including concerts, community events and our Jubilee Big Lunch, thanks to everyone who came along to celebrate, as well as a big thank you to all the volunteers who made the weekend possible.

If you would like to get involved with future events please or any other of our volunteering roles at the Cathedral please visit our website.

RSCM Music Sunday 

This Sunday 12 June marks ‘Music Sunday’ for church musicians across the UK and beyond. The Royal School of Church Music seeks to support and enable church musicians and worship leaders across a wide variety of ages, styles and traditions. Like most dioceses, Portsmouth has a huge spectrum of musical and liturgical traditions and we encourage you to celebrate how and with whom we use music to honour and worship God.

There is a thriving community of church musicians in our diocese, and you can see the ways the local RSCM Area Team supports them on their website.

Do join us for a special singing day in September, where we will welcome composer and choir director Philip Stopford to lead with singers and instrumentalists from churches in Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. To find out more or book visit our website.

Portsmouth Pride and Open Table

As a member of the Inclusive Church network, Portsmouth Cathedral aims to be a safe and welcoming space for all, and we are delighted to fly our rainbow flag in support of Portsmouth Pride, which is taking place this weekend.

All are warmly invited to the launch of Open Table Fareham this Sunday, 12 June, at 5:00pm in the Hall at Holy Trinity, Fareham. Open Table is an ecumenical UK-wide network of local worshipping communities based around a monthly Eucharist. It seeks to be a place of affirmation and encouragement for LGBTQI+ Christians.

For further information, please email Wendy-May Jacobs at wendymay.jacobs@htscf.org.uk

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Neighbourhood Grant

We are delighted to have received a £1,000 grant from Portsmouth City Council, as part of The Queen’s Jubilee Neighbourhood Grant scheme. This grant will help support the development of our summer sensory garden project ‘The Wild Cathedral’, taking place inside the Cathedral from 16 August to 4 September. You can find more information about this exciting project on our website next week.

Read more →

Appointment of additional Assistant Verger

Chapter is pleased to announce the appointment of additional Assistant Vergers and Precinct Officers. We are in the final process of reviewing references and doing the necessary checks, but it is anticipated that one person (maternity cover) will start on the 20 June and the other person (a new permanent post) will start on the 27 June.

Read more →

Volunteer Meeting – 1:30pm, Tuesday 28 June

There will be an opportunity for our volunteers to meet our recently appointed Volunteer Coordinator and Records Management Assistant, Nadjia Carpenter on Tuesday 28 June.

The meeting will also include an introduction about Nadjia’s role in supporting our volunteers and the new recruitment, onboarding, and training processes that she will be developing. The meeting will also be an opportunity for us to thank our wonderful volunteers and to hear about your experiences.

If you are a volunteer and haven’t received an invitation or if you would like to hear more about our volunteering roles and joining the team, please email Nadjia at Nadjia.carpenter@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk.

Cathedral Music Trust Grant

For the second year running, the Cathedral Music Trust has provided a grant to support core musical activities here at Portsmouth Cathedral. The grant will help to ensure that the Cathedral has the financial ability to support ongoing activities including our musical outreach programme, Cathedral Sing.

Dr Isobel Pinder, a trustee of the Cathedral Music Trust, will present the grant to the Cathedral on Thursday 16 June 2022, at 5.45pm Eucharist (Corpus Christi) service. All are most welcome to attend.

Find our more →

Meet the Dean

Dean Anthony is offering a regular, quarterly opportunity for any members of the Cathedral community to meet with him over a cup of tea or coffee.

The next of these will take place on Thursday 16 June from 10:30am – 11:30am in the Bishop Kenneth Room. Our Vision and Strategy speaks of embedding ‘learning and feedback in all that we do’, and this is a chance to offer comments, questions and ideas relating to any aspect of Cathedral life.

Fabric Advisory Committee

The Fabric Advisory Committee meets on Tuesday when it will consider the details for the provision of AV to enhance our live-stream and conference capability in the Cathedral. The Agenda is available from our downloads page.

Cathedral Council and Chapter Meeting

Chapter and Cathedral Council meet on Thursday 23 June. The meeting will include discussion on the 2021 Cathedrals Measure. The congregational representatives on Cathedral Council are Nick Speller and Ann Wilson who can be contacted direct or through the Cathedral Offices.

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.

Honorary Canons Sermon Series

We welcome the Revd Canon Will Hughes, Acting Archdeacon of the Meon and Vicar of St Peter's, Petersfield as our preacher for Choral Evensong at 5.45 this Sunday - 12th June - in our series of sermons by the Honorary Canons on the theme of ‘Journeying with Christ.’

Our next preacher in the series will be the Revd Canon Karina Green, Priest-in-charge of St Alban’s, West Leigh, who will joining us for Choral Evensong at 5.45 on Sunday 10th July.

Falklands 40 Commemoration – Sunday 19 June 11.45am

All are welcome to attend a special Service of Remembrance being held at the Cathedral to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Falklands conflict. At 11am a new memorial plaque by the Square Tower will be unveiled and dedicated, with the names of members of the Army, Royal Air Force and civilians who lost their lives during the conflict. Then, following wreath-laying at the memorial and a march-past on Grand Parade, all are invited to make their way into the Cathedral where the Service of Remembrance will take place. The Eucharist will be celebrated at 8.00am and 5.45pm.

Prayers and Intercessions

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

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

We pray for those who have died recently: Matthew Jackson 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.

News or story you’d like to share? Submit a notice 📰