A reflection from Kitty Price… The private cost of public ministry

Growing up as a vicarage child is a bit like marmite – you either love it or hate it. Whichever camp you are in, there is a cost. As we welcome Bishop Jonathan as the Tenth Bishop of Portsmouth this weekend, I thought I would give you a little insight into what life was like as the daughter of a vicar and then bishop.

I see my upbringing in a clergy family as a privilege, though there was a cost to living in the public eye, with a parent who could be called upon at any time. People had higher expectations of our behaviour because our father was in the Church. Yet it prepared me in so many ways for life, with two particularly important lessons. The first was learning how to talk to people from all walks of life, whether they were neighbours, civic dignitaries, the milkman, landed gentry, members of the congregation or people who knocked on the rectory door asking for food. How were we to do this? In exactly the same way. Where did the visiting preacher stay? With us. Who turned up to parish events? We did. The second lesson (and we are not talking about the New Testament reading in a service!) was welcoming people into our home and seeing the ministry of my parents – it wasn’t just my father’s job – to those in celebration and distress. In any one day there would be someone planning a funeral and another planning a baptism or wedding. This became normal for us.

This was good preparation for the life of a bishop’s daughter, though the transition was, in some ways, harder for my parents than it was for their children. My older sister, Elisabeth, had already left home, and I was temporarily back after university, but my younger brother and sister were still at school. Alexandra went from having the smallest room in the rectory in Guildford to having an ensuite, which I named ‘the bathroom next to Alexandra’s bedroom’ to keep her grounded. It was a case of ‘Go large AND go home’, because everything was bigger, including the responsibility. Visiting preachers were replaced by visiting bishops and candidates for their ordination retreats. There were fewer people knocking on the door in distress or asking for food, but my parents offered a ministry of hospitality throughout their fourteen years in Portsmouth. The bishop’s residence moved from one end of Fareham to the other not long after we arrived. The offices, study and chapel were built as an extension to the house, and although you could shut and even lock the connecting door, the job was always there. There is some truth in the phrase ‘it’s tough at the top’ because it is a lonelier existence than parish life, the life into which my father was ordained and both of my parents thrived. Serving a diocese spreads you more thinly, has greater and often unrealistic expectations, and they were removed from a ready-made community. But they threw themselves into the life of the diocese and so were incredibly sad when ill health after nearly 5 years of balancing treatment for Leukaemia with being a bishop meant they took early retirement.

Bishop Jonathan will be a different bishop from his predecessors. Their portraits hang in Bishopsgrove, and I hope that they will remind him that there are many ways to be Bishop of Portsmouth. He will make the role his own because his experiences as a priest and pilgrim are different and his priorities for the Diocese of Portsmouth in 2022 are also different and that is how it should be. I hope that he and Christine enjoy life and thrive at Bishopsgrove; that it is a privilege to serve God in this role and place even though this public ministry comes at a personal cost.

My father’s name was discussed for preferment to an even more senior role in the Church of England, but even if ill health hadn’t got in the way, he wouldn’t have left Portsmouth. For a Viking – his mother was Danish and his father half Danish – he loved being by the sea. It gave him great pleasure to buy a cappuccino and Eccles cake on the ferry to the Isle of Wight; indeed, he was known by the staff on the ferries. He loved the presence of the university and the navy and learnt more about his father’s time in MI6 during WWII from connections down here than he ever did from his father directly. He adored Portsmouth Cathedral and it is wonderful that his ashes are interred in the St Thomas Chapel. The Cathedral of the sea is a very special place and this weekend it becomes so for Bishop Jonathan, Christine, Hannah, Ben and Jake, along with their friends and family. Deo gratias.

Kitty Price,
Cathedral Reader
(second child of Kenneth and Sarah Stevenson)

Community News

Bishop Jonathan’s Installation

This Saturday sees a much anticipated and highly significant event in the life of our Diocese and Cathedral – the Installation of the Right Reverend Dr Jonathan Hugh Frost as the Tenth Bishop of Portsmouth. As he is anointed and put in his seat – known in Latin as the cathedra – this is a moment of celebration and hope, and a visible symbol of his arrival amongst us as our Bishop. Bishop Jonathan’s emphasis on young people, and of making the gospel accessible to all people, is exemplified in the service through the participation of Cathedral Sing and Choir Church, as well as the fact that the service will be signed and live streamed.

In the Cathedral – and in every corner of the Diocese – it is our duty and our joy to pray for Bishop Jonathan not only as he is installed, but every day thereafter, and to do all we can to support him in fulfilling his calling. So as we rejoice this weekend, let us pray also for one another as a new phase in the life of our Cathedral and Diocese begins; that we may together proclaim afresh the good news of Jesus Christ, so desperately needed in our warring and hurting world.

Stream the Installation online

We are working with a professional broadcast company to livestream the service. Everyone is very welcome to join online from our website, Facebook or YouTube.

Tickets to attend the service are no longer available; please do not come if you do not have a ticket as we will not be able to admit you.

The day after the Installation – Sunday, 13 March

Bishop Jonathan will be joining us the day after his Installation, both at 9:30am for #PompeySundays (where we will have an opportunity to find out about his life, ministry, and calling to this Diocese, as he is interviewed by members of the congregation of all ages) and to preach and preside at the 11:00am Sung Eucharist. There will be an opportunity to meet Bishop Jonathan over refreshments after both services.

Do keep Bishop Jonathan in your prayers this week as he prepares for his Installation.

Lent Group: Art Tuesdays continues this week

OurArt Tuesdaysseries continues this Tuesday 7 March at 7:30pm via Zoom. This week priest and art historian Harriet Neale-Stevens will be talking on the subject of Gospel themes in 20th century art, looking at the processes artists use to create and execute their art, as well as at the finished works.

Sign-up to our Cathedral Notices to be sent the link weekly.

Journeying with Christ

Our Sunday Evensong Sermon Series “Journeying with Christ" continues this week with Canon Hugh Wright, Vicar of Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. Throughout the year, we are welcoming each of our Honorary Canons to be our guest preacher at a Sunday Choral Evensong service at 5:45pm.

Come to hear their experience about journeys of faith and their wisdom about the pilgrimage through life that we are all on together.

Remember a loved one by donating an Easter Lily

This Easter, remember your loved ones by donating an Easter Lily. All donated lilies will form part of our beautiful floral display in the Cathedral. The names of all those remembered will also be entered by hand into our Easter Lily Memorial Book.

For each loved one you wish to remember we ask for a donation of £5 for one lily, and you are welcome to donate as many lilies as you wish. Donations will cover the costs of buying lilies and also support the work of the Cathedral’s Flower Guild over the coming year.

Donate an Easter Lily online →

‘Meet the Dean’ next Sunday

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

The first of these will take place on Sunday 20 March in Becket Hall from 10:10am to 10:40am (after #PompeySundays) and in the Bishop Kenneth Room at 12:15pm (after the Sung Eucharist). 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.

Portsmouth Cathedral and the Portsmouth Local Plan

This week we shared an introductory document regarding Portsmouth Cathedral’s inclusion in the Portsmouth Local Plan with community groups, local residents and stakeholders.

We have been closely following Portsmouth City Council’s revised plans for how it will deliver the homes, jobs, community facilities and green spaces that our city needs to flourish over the next 15 years. We are exploring how we can be part of the vision of this Portsmouth Local Plan, whilst ensuring our spaces continue to be utilised in a way that not only enriches and improves the lives of the community, but also supports the long-term future of our Cathedral. Specifically, we are considering how potential developments of Cathedral House could better support the needs of the community and groups who currently use Becket Hall whilst meeting the ambitions of our own Cathedral Vision and Strategy.

The Portsmouth Local Plan is a key planning document for the city and will be published by the end of April. In order to keep our options open regarding how Cathedral House might be developed in the future, and to ensure that any potential developments are carried out in partnership with the City Council as well as all our other stakeholders, it was vital that we registered our interest in being part of the Plan now.

We are at the very beginning of the process of exploring the future of Cathedral House. When this begins in earnest there will be consultation with the congregation, our Cathedral community, as well as local residents, stakeholders and community groups. This consultation will be accompanied by a rigorous feasibility study to work out what is actually possible.

You can find out more about these potential developments, including answers to some frequently asked questions, on ourwebsite. This information is also available from booklets in the Cathedral.

A joint meeting of Cathedral Council and Chapter

Cathedral Council and Chapter meet on Wednesday evening in joint session for an open discussion about possible successor bodies to Cathedral Council.

The Cathedrals Measure 2021 prescribes how cathedrals are to be governed in the future including the Charity Commission becoming our joint regulator with the Church Commissioners. All 42 English Cathedrals will come under the Measure by the end of 2023 with Portsmouth Cathedral scheduled to come under the remit of the Measure in the autumn of 2023.

Chapter has now begun the process of reviewing what may replace Cathedral Council when the new Measure comes into force. By starting the consultation period over 18 months before this happens, we can ensure that Chapter hears views from both within the Cathedral community and also from a wider group of external stakeholders.

It is planned to have further discussions with the congregation at the APCM on 24 May 2022. The final decision of what replaces Cathedral Council rests with Chapter.

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.

Prayers and Intercessions

We remember the following for whom prayer has been asked by members of the Cathedral Community: Beverley, Richard, Jane, Alan, Stan, Amanda, Wendy, Derek, Denise, Debbie, Jane, Margaret, Rachel, Lucy, Mona, and all those in need.

Long-term sick including: Alison, Christopher, Clifford, Jane, Johnny, Melissa, Jenny, Suzy, Sarah, Bob, Michael, Rita, Izzy, Graeme, Clare, Libby, Hilary, and Andrew.

We pray for those who have died recently: Mervyn Banting, Jean Frost, Danny McCauley, Jean Palmer, William Deery, and John Charlesworth 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.