​Last Sunday many of us enjoyed the annual Pentecost ‘walk’ between the two Cathedrals: two Cathedrals joined by a street named hope. The virtual service took us back to the origins of the walk and the visit of Pope John Paul II. It was a momentous occasion for the two Cathedrals, for the city and for the region. When you think of the history of this city and its sectarian divides, the walk of John Paul II, along Hope Street to Liverpool Cathedral, was a hope and a vision fulfilled for many people who had lived through the divides of religion and race in this city.

As the events of the past week in America have proved, we cannot be complacent. We must continue to work together against injustice and racism in particular. The death of George Floyd in America has brought to the surface issues around racism. This issue is not just an American problem, but it is our problem too. It is for America and for us a matter of justice, of human dignity and respect.

We are called by God to love our neighbour as ourselves. We are called to value every human being regardless of race, colour or creed. We are called to live together and to live in harmony. I hope and pray that peace may be found, that the voices of all those who feel disenfranchised because of the colour of their skin may be heard. Above all I pray for a world where we respect God’s creation and the people God has made.
 
Loving God, you invite us to see your divine image and likeness in our neighbour. Help us to see all your creation, made in your image equal and free form racism and any form of injustice. Help us to challenge and uproot all form of racism in our world, in our society and in ourselves. Amen.

Dean Sue and Canon Tony
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While you're here:
Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html.
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​‘I was there’ is of course a catch phrase which refers to the fact that whenever there is a great occasion worthy of remembering there always seem to be far more people who claim to have been there as witnesses than could ever have fitted into the venue at the time!

The wonderful ‘virtual’ Two Cathedrals Service of Hope last Sunday brought back memories of a couple of unforgettable moments when I can honestly say ‘I was there’. Firstly was that great event in 1982 when Pope John Paul 11 entered the doors of our Cathedral and processed the whole length to be greeted by Dean Edward Patey and Bishop David Sheppard at the Nave. Pauline and I were lucky enough to have tickets and although they were anything but ‘front row’ just being there was memorable enough. As a Curate at the Parish Church from 1978 to 81 I was part of a City Centre Ecumenical Team which offered a visible ministry to the city as brothers and sisters in Christ reflecting our different denominations in unity. The Pope’s visit to the Cathedral was a real symbol of hope as is the continuing relationship between the Cathedrals today.

I was also ‘there’ a few years earlier when in 1978 Her Majesty the Queen visited and officially ‘opened’ the Cathedral. Not only was I there, I actually did the commentary of the occasion for Radio City. (I hope to goodness that there are no recordings of that particular piece of broadcasting history!) In contrast to the future visit of the Pope I remember it being full of pomp and ceremony as the building came into its own accompanied by the finest music. Interestingly in the afternoon Her Majesty visited the Roman Catholic Church of St Mary Highfield Street (now sadly demolished) where she actually spoke to me!

Our Cathedral has provided the venue for many wonderful and memorable moments in people’s lives over the years and will do so long into the future. Millions will thank God and like me will gratefully claim’ I was there’.

Canon Bob

While you're here:
Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html.

When lockdown first began, there was little warning that the clergy were no longer expected to have access to their churches. I have only been inside the Cathedral a handful of times in the last 10 weeks.

This troubled me for two reasons. The first was the state in which I had left my room! I had not had the chance to put things away and leave everywhere tidy. At home we used to joke when we were about to go away. We were anxious to leave the place tidy and clean in case we were burgled! I would not have liked a robber to see my room during those first few weeks of lockdown.

The other worry was slightly more esoteric. Once we reached Easter Day, I felt uneasy knowing that the high altar in the Cathedral was still dressed for Lent. For me, this just added to the sense of desolation and abandonment.

Last week I’m happy to say that both of these problems have been addressed. Half an hour in the office has allowed me to leave everywhere tidy, if still rather dusty. On Tuesday, Jack and I used our verger skills to change the altar frontal for ‘Ordinary Time’ which has now begun on the days after Pentecost.
‘Ordinary Time’ is not the most elegant phrase in the church calendar. Our Roman Catholic friends refer to the endless weeks of green which lie ahead as ‘the Sundays of the Year.’ After a brief flirtation with ‘Sundays after Pentecost’ during the era of the Alternative Services Book, we have happily returned to the Prayer Book custom of ‘Sundays after Trinity.’

Perhaps this year, we might designate much of the year as ‘Extraordinary Time.’ For half of Lent, the whole fifty days of Easter and now for who knows how many weeks after Trinity, our familiar patterns of worship and meeting together is not available to us. We miss sharing the sacraments, the daily offering of prayer and praise, the glorious music which graces the magnificent spaces of Giles Gilbert Scott’s great building, the welcome and hospitality we love to share with all who encounter the God who knows and loves them as they come through our doors. When we return, we must appreciate these gifts more and more.

This time has been extraordinary not just through what we have lost, but also through the unexpected ways in which God has enriched and sustained us. I am thinking of the new ways we have found to worship and have fellowship, of how people in the Cathedral company, young and old alike, have shown care and concern for one another, and of the heroic front-line efforts of those who have sustained the vital work of Micah throughout this time.

When all thy mercies, O my God, my rising soul surveys, transported with the view, I’m lost in wonder, love and praise.

Canon Myles

While you're here:
Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html.

I don’t know about you, but one aspect of the lockdown has been not just the increase in screen usage on my electronic devices (and it was pretty high before!), but also how much tea and other comfort foods I am consuming each day.  Coupled with the growing hair is my growing waistline – you’ll not recognise me when you see me in the cathedral next time!  I think one of the reasons is that at home, my laptop – and therefore the sole centre of my lockdown world – is located right next to the kitchen.  Yes, that doorway you’ve seen behind me in the online videos leads to my kitchen and ultimately it’s far too easy to wander into every few minutes, for gallons of tea and some of many comfort foods available therein….like Oreo biscuits and hot chocolate! 

So, from that perspective, I’ve definitely not been left comfortless these last few weeks.  But that phrase has been foremost in my mind, not just because of the hot chocolate, but because it’s a phrase in the heart of the daily collect used in the period from Ascension until yesterday – the day of Pentecost.  When the Holy Spirit, which Jesus brought to his disciples on the evening of his resurrection by his breath (our gospel yesterday, John 20:19-23), was then brought to all gathered together like the sound of a rushing wind and divided tongues, as of fire, alighting on each of them (Acts 2:1-21).  The gift Christ promised, the Holy Spirit, the comforter, was introduced to the world, and the worldwide church was born!  Alleluia!

As then….as now – the spirit is with us to be just that; brought first through Jesus’ own breath to be the comforter to strengthen, guide and renew the courage of the disciples when perhaps they felt all was lost, that same spirit is within each of us to support us all through these troubled times.  And support is still needed – for although today marks a day of further easing of the country’s restrictions, it is still really really difficult and still very worrying for many people – and the new normal we emerge into will take some getting used to for everyone. 

So, we pray….and we pray….and we pray; because God always wants us to; God always listens to us; and God always answers us in some way.  And just as the Holy Spirit was there then, the Holy Spirit is here now to help us, day after day.  The practical results are seen in the work of all of us – through the hands reaching out, through the help we give to one another in so many different ways, through the tireless frontline workers who are as anxious as we are.  As Paul assured us in his letter to the church in Galatia (Galatians 5:22-23), even in these times, whenever we witness acts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control by anyone, the spirit is at work…..for those are her fruits.  So, with faith in God, the love of Christ in our hearts, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, we may continue to be sustained – knowing that we are never truly left comfortless. 
 
With my love and prayers for you all; continue to stay safe….
 
Canon Mike 

While you're here:
Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html.

​On this feast of Pentecost, we normally celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit with an ecumenical procession along Hope Street. We can't do that today, but we do invite you to join in worship with us in this Two Cathedrals service to keep the feast: 

Teddy Horsley is a bear who is growing up in a churchgoing family with Lucy, Walter and Betsy Bear. He is growing up to appreciate the rhythm of the Church’s year and the distinctive insights of the Christian tradition. There is a lot for him to explore, and a lot that puzzles him as well.
 
On the Feast of Pentecost Teddy Horsley hears the Church speak about the Holy Spirit, and Teddy Horsley is a puzzled bear. He opens his eyes to look for the Holy Spirit, but he cannot see the Holy Spirit. He stretches out his paws to touch the Holy Spirit, but he cannot grasp the Holy Spirit. He pricks up his ears to listen to the Holy Spirit, but he cannot hear the Holy Spirit. Teddy Horsley is a puzzled bear. 
 
Then Teddy Horsley began to explore the theology of the Holy Spirit. He discovers that the Greek word pneuma can also be translated as breath or wind. He discovers that the Hebrew word ruach refers to the power encountered in the breath and in the wind. Now Teddy Horsley begins to understand. 
       
On a windy day Teddy Horsley cannot see the wind, but he can see the power of the wind blow paper along the street. Teddy Horsley cannot touch the wind, but he can feel the power of the wind tug his kite into the sky. Teddy Horsley cannot hear the wind, but he can hear the power of the wind whistle through the trees. Now Teddy Horsley beings to understand.

On the Feast of Pentecost Teddy Horsley invites us to prepare our homes to participate in the Sunday Eucharist broadcast from Liverpool Cathedral by making a windmill or a kite, or to blow up a balloon to focus our attention on the Gospel message for the day.
 
The image for next Sunday, the Feast of the Holy Trinity, is a waterfall. You can find out more about that theme here: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. We would really appreciate you letting us know how you are using these materials. Please send us your ideas and photos of the things you may create; email them to nelson.pike@liverpoolcathedral.org.uk.
 
A couple of weeks ago I launched a national survey to explore how churchgoers are feeling during the lockdown. I hope that many people who visit this website today will be willing to participate in the survey. It is completely anonymous and confidential. Find out more here https://tinyurl.com/ycsq9fy2.
 
To learn more about Teddy Horsley, follow this link to his website: https://teddyhorsley.org/, and this link to his page on the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources.html.
 
You are warmly invited to join us in worship today here: 

We invite your further engagement with us using the Breakfast and the Bible materials here: 
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​Teddy Horsley sends his Pentecost greetings to you all.
 
Canon Leslie 

I have no idea if this is something other people have been experiencing but during the lockdown I have been noticing how time feels very different to me. With seemingly no beginning or end the days are punctuated by food, walking the dogs and making sure I stand up from my desk and look far away so I don’t get sore eyes. Time seems to slip away and days slide into another. I call my mum every day and some days I have to check to make sure I haven’t already called her (the one time I did call twice she was freaked out and thought something terrible had happened!).

I am fortunate to have regular prayer times set in my diary with colleagues as well as cathedral worship and other virtual meetings. I am keeping busy with meetings related to the work I do with the diocese including assisting parishes with their social justice work and supporting a number of charities particularly Together Liverpool, Adelaide House, and Micah Liverpool. I have the work I do with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority supporting the Voluntary Community Faith and Social Enterprise Sector and as an advisor for the Metro Mayor Steve Rotherham. In addition I have had to do some quick learning as I have engaged in some of the resilience work supporting the most vulnerable in the Liverpool City Region. These cells are made up of a group of people tasked with the job of ensuring we are kept safe during lock including borough leads, the health and social care providers, NHS, fire police and other emergency responders, military and the voluntary sector. These meetings were not part of my work before the lockdown but it has become an important new part of my current work and practice.

All the new work and the new way of working have thrown my negotiation of time into chaos. Sometimes it feels like I am either wrestling with a wriggly eel or bouncing on a marshmallow. One thing for sure time feels very different in lockdown. So, this week I have been reflecting on how I use my time in lockdown – trying to make sure it doesn’t run away from me or slip out of control but at the same time allowing new patterns to emerge and being patient with myself.

One of my favourite times of the day is around 4pm as the sun comes round into our back garden. The patio shimmers with light and it is a great time to put the washing out. I am not a sun lover so I am grateful that the trees offer a bit of shade as well. A break on the patio is one of the times I enjoy best each day.

However you are using your time in lockdown I pray that you will find something of the glory of God in the way you are spending your time. I pray you find times for peace and times for joy.  

Canon Ellen

While you're here:
Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html.

As a confirmed landlubber, I have had a curiously intertwined relationship with tugs. It all started around 15 years ago, near a certain estuary on the other side of the country. I conducted a wedding at the church where I was Vicar, and it turned out that the bride’s father, Paul, was the director of a large towage firm on said estuary. Some while after the wedding, Paul rang me to let me know that he had purchased a new tug and needed it ‘christening’. He explained that seafarers are a superstitious bunch (I had gathered that) and would be very reluctant to sail in this vessel unless she had been properly ‘done’. I indicated that I would be honoured to ‘christen’ his new tug but that I would need to research exactly how to do it. In all my time at vicar factory and in my curacy (which was about as far from the sea as you can get in the UK), I had never been instructed in the fine art of christening boats and ships. However, a phone call to a retired chaplain from the Mission to Seafarers soon enabled me to make up the serious deficiency in my skill-set, and some while later the tug was duly christened. Along with Paul’s wife, who was to smash the bubbly and name the said vessel, I was escorted up to the platform outside the bridge in order to perform the ceremony before the assembled crowd on the quayside. It was a grey, drizzly, chilly day and I shouted the words of the service without the assistance of a PA system or megaphone into the teeth of a brisk Nor’easter scything its way off the North Sea. I don’t know whether anyone could hear, but they all cheered when the bubbly was sent smashing into the side of the tug and everyone was happy that the deed was properly done. We all gratefully jumped into our cars to repair to a nearby restaurant overlooking the estuary whilst the newly christened tug steamed up and down outside the restaurant, doing pirourettes and shooting forth vast jets of water from her fire-hydrants. All good fun. Thankfully she didn’t sink and I was asked back on another five occasions to repeat the ritual with more new tugs over the years. To my knowledge, they are all still afloat!
 
Now in Liverpool, with a view over part of the Mersey from my study window, I can actually see tugs at work almost every day. I have a direct view across to the yards of Cammell-Laird and, whenever a ship is moved in or out of their wet dock, a small army of tugs is on hand to guide her safely through the lock-gates. I often see them plying up and down the river, going to the aid of vessels entering and leaving the estuary. The picture above shows one of our local tugs, hard at work, and I am most grateful to Peter Kenny @The Floating Grace for permission to include his photograph. The tugs really are the often unsung heroes of the river in my view , small and yet powerful, able to help ships in and out of the docks. Without them, many would risk coming to grief at the mercy of the swift tides, strong winds and shifting sandbanks of the estuary and Liverpool Bay.
 
Seeing the tugs reminds me that we all need the assistance of special people to come alongside us when we face particular challenges in our lives. One of the hardest things of the current restrictions is that we cannot phyiscally be alongside them. Even the simple, and hitherto taken for granted, aspects of daily living like meeting someone for a coffee or sitting beside their bed in hospital and holding their hand are denied to us at the moment. We can only be alongside in a virtual sense for most people. 
 
This Sunday, we will celebrate Pentecost, remembering the occasion, 50 days after the first Easter Day, when Jesus’ promise to send God’s Holy Spirit came to pass. The believers, some 120 according to Acts 1:15, were anointed with ‘power from on high’ as the Spirit came on them with visible signs of wind, fire and the ability to speak in different languages. In Acts 2:4, the word for ‘Spirit’ literally means ‘breath’, ‘wind’ or ‘air in motion’ in the original Greek. Jesus describes this ‘holy breath’ in John 14:15 as the ‘Advocate’, the Paraclete; which literally means “one sent for to assist another”. It was used in the law courts, to refer to a legal expert who would help to represent you and present your case. In the Mediterranean Sea at the time of Jesus, there were small boats sent out from the harbours to meet incoming ships offshore and to guide them safely into port. They were known as Paracletes too. Jesus is using a metaphor that would be well-known to his hearers. Entering a harbour, especially an unfamiliar one, was a dangerous business, and so it was definitely wise to send for the assistance of the Paraclete to come alongside you and guide you in.
 
Our familiar tugs on the Mersey are, for me, metaphors which helpfully remind me of the Holy Spirit of God; the one called alongside us by Jesus. He knew that negotiating the at times turbulent waters of daily living would cause his followers much challenge and even threaten to shipwreck them altogether. So he calls the Holy Spirit alongside us to guide, protect, strengthen us and, yes, sometimes to tick us off when we’ve drifted into danger. Crucially, the Spirit helps us keep our spiritual compass pointing to Jesus, whose kingdom of light is our safe harbour and anchorage. Just as we should never take for granted our Mersey tugs and the crews who sail them, so we should always be thankful for and welcome alongside the spiritual tug that Jesus sends to meet us afresh each day. You might like to join us this Sunday on-line for our Pentecost Eucharist or for the Zone 2 service via Facebook. You will also find some of the resources that are posted alongside the act of worship to help us reflect on the events of that first Pentecost and how the Spirit can still impact us today. Even in these times when we cannot physically be alongside many of those whom we love, let’s be thankful that God never needs to practise social distancing but delights to come alongside us if we but call!
 
Canon Neal
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While you're here:
Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html.

Liverpool Cathedral is a remarkable building and lit up, as it was on May 15th as part of Light Night, makes it look spectacular. Like so many, I admired the talented people who put that display on as we joined with other buildings in the city in being lit. Like so many I enjoyed the many, many photos shared right across social media. It made the building I live next to seem truly magnificent.

Part of me would love to do that more often. Light is so important in the Christian understanding of the world. In the creation story we see God spreading light across His world. Jesus is described as the light of the world. And in ordinary times in the cathedral, and in so many churches, we light candles as we are reminded and remind others that light equals hope. And we need hope at this and every time.

That part of me, on a Thursday in particular, would want to light up the cathedral for the city, for the care workers, the NHS staff and the key workers who are dedicating themselves to brightening all our lives.

However as Dean I also need to consider the financial aspect of what we do. Regularly lighting the outside of the cathedral costs. We have always had to consider where we spend our money and time. I would rather that goes to support the work of Micah Liverpool delivering 280 food parcels to needy folk in the city. I would rather it is saved to support the employment of many local people when we can reopen. I would rather it is spent helping our neighbours than lighting.

Light is hope, but our building is hope. We were built by the people, for the people to the Glory of God. Our building has stood proud for nearly a century. It has been the focus of much joy and sorrow. It has brought the city together and it remains an important icon for Liverpool. But it is not the most important thing. The spirit of the people who work, volunteer, worship and serve here is far greater. It matches the spirit of the city we are praying for and seeking to serve. The Micah team are the light of hope for the hundreds of families they feed. I am proud to serve and lead people that offer so much light.

Liverpool Cathedral is a remarkable building. Its’ presence gives hope and it will be present long after this crisis still giving hope as the people connected to it shine their lights into the communities and city we love and serve.

Dean Sue
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While you're here:
Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html.

I live in Lady Chapel Close which means that as I write this and look out of my front window the Cathedral rises into the sky. Often if there is a Service in the Lady Chapel and sometimes in the main space we can hear the organ whose notes are a reminder of the busy life of praise and worship within the building.

Of course Cathedrals are built for gatherings of hundreds and thousands of people who come together for a common purpose and who experience the dynamic of being part of a large crowd.

I first experienced this in 1978 when I was made a Deacon and although I was only one of over twenty people being ordained Deacon or Priest there was enough room for all my family and friends who wanted to be there. Last year I had the privilege of preaching at the ordination service which believe me even after 40 years is still a scary experience! On such occasions the Cathedral is filled with love, hope and expectation.

Interestingly there is a similar atmosphere when our building is used by Liverpool John Moores University for their graduation ceremonies. As Chaplain for almost ten years I attended almost one hundred of those and consistently witnessed people enter for the first time for a secular occasion gaze in wonder at the grandeur of their surroundings dedicated to the glory of God.

Since being the Dwelly Raven Canon I have taken my turn in welcoming those using the Cathedral for grand dinners and ceremonies so vital for our economy and an opportunity for them to experience our hospitality. Often entering the great space from the Lady Chapel and accompanied by a fanfare from the organ an interesting evening becomes a profound spiritual experience of encounter with each other and with God.

Of course all this is impossible at the moment and my heart goes out to those being ordained this year in very different circumstances and those who will merely receive their degrees through the post. I know there will be a new ‘normal’ for a while but in time we will once again be able to experience fully the genius of Giles Gilbert Scott as human ingenuity, resilience, and faithful endeavour will overcome this pandemic.
 
Canon Bob

While you're here:
Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html.
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