We warmly invite you to join us for Choral Evensong from Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral and Liverpool Anglican Cathedral in celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, sung by the choirs of both Cathedrals. 

The preacher is Canon Leslie Francis, Canon Theologian of Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. 

The service is available from 3:00 pm on Sunday, 23 January 2021. 

Dean Sue

Today is the Third Sunday of Epiphany, the season of the Church’s year in which Jesus’ identity is being revealed to the people around him. On the Feast of the Epiphany Jesus was revealed to the magi who travelled from the East. On the First Sunday of Epiphany Jesus was revealed through his baptism. On the Second Sunday of Epiphany Jesus was revealed to Philip and to Nathanael. Today Jesus is revealed to the guests at the wedding in Cana. When the wine runs out, Jesus replenishes the supply.  In verse 11 John explains why he starts with this story: it ‘is the first of the signs by which Jesus revealed his glory and led his disciples to believe in him’.  It is no accident that the first sign takes place at a wedding feast.  In Jewish thought the wedding feast is a way of speaking about God's Kingdom, when the Messiah will preside at the banquet.
 
For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited you to focus on the image of making wine. In so doing we made the link between the transformed wine at the wedding feast in Cana and the transforming wine in which we share at the Eucharistic feast. In today’s picture from Exploring the parish church, Bethan and Tomos are busy making wine for the communion service in their church, experiencing for themselves the fruit of the vine and the work of human hands.
 
Next Sunday the Fourth Sunday of Epiphany, the Gospel reading is Mark’s narrative of Jesus’ first healing in the synagogue at Capernaum. The image to help us prepare for that reading is jigsaw puzzle. 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.

To read Exploring the parish church in its entirety, follow this link to the story on the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/World%20Faiths%20Today%20series/Storybooks%20World%20Faiths%20Today/Parish%20Church%20story%20English.pdf. For more books in the World faiths today  series, follow this link to the relevant page of the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/worldfaithstoday.html. 
 
We warmly invite you to join us in worship online here:

If you’re like me, and you have been known to look far too ahead in the calendar every now and again, then perhaps you, also like me, have been somewhat troubled by the fast approaching season of Lent on 17 February. My first reaction when I realized that Lent was so close was, What? Lent is beginning? I thought it never ended!

Lent is a time, according to the Book of Common Prayer 1979 of the Episcopal Church, USA (BCP 1979), for: “self-examination and repentance… prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and… reading and meditating on God’s holy word” (p. 264). By this definition, then, the changes to our world, our communities, and particularly our Churches are not synonymous with an extended Lenten observance—despite what I may have felt.

Lent is an opportunity to observe a discipline (giving up chocolate, making time for prayer, donating to charity, etc.) for its own sake. Lent, rather, is a means to an end. Again, let me quote the BCP 1979: “The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians have to renew their repentance and faith" (pp. 264-265). 

So Lent, then, is a time of preparation for the solemn and holy observances of Holy Week and Easter. It is a time of discernment for those wishing to enter the Church. It is a time for profound repentance for wrongs committed to others. And it is time of a reminder of our need as Christians continually to repent, and to hold fast to the faith.

Lent is not, then, an extended period of not being able to meet together due to a highly contagious and deadly virus. Covid-19 is not a punishment for the sins of the world, or for the existence of religions other than Christianity. It is not a personal return from the Almighty for the sins of our own pasts. The austerity and profundity of denial associated with Lent may seem to have been extended beyond last Spring. But Lenten discipline is not suffering for its own sake, or suffering under the situation in which we all find ourselves. Lent is about the heart. About what taking a fearless moral inventory of where we are in relation to God and those around us. And is particularly set aside for correcting what may be in need of correction. Lent is a time for us, pandemic or not, to consider how we might better show the light of Christ in the world, which we have been contemplating in this season of Epiphany. Lent is for glad apologies and purposeful amendments.

Now having said that, that doesn’t mean we haven’t suffered during the pandemic. We have. Some of us who are key workers are exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. Others who are shielding are facing isolation and loneliness for almost a year. And those who are in need in regular times find their need compounded by the inability to cover bills or find help.

Lent’s invitation to us is a time to prepare ourselves to meet our Saviour at the cross. Who better to show us the broken reality of the world than our Lord and Saviour, who in his death on the cross not only gave us hope, but an honest testimony to the severity of the world whose power we are called to resist by keeping that hope alive. Christ gives us hope that the suffering of the present is not going to be the final word on our future.

So. Lent 2021. What’s a Christian to do? We could start by considering ways in which we aren’t doing so well. Even at home, we can worship God, we can support our neighbours, we can contribute to good in the world, we can care for ourselves, and give all of that and more a trial run or rethink if need be. We can face the reality of the crucified and risen Saviour with more depth and seriousness if we have prepared for it deeply and seriously. We can more closely follow the pattern of our Saviour when we try to follow his example of shedding light in the darkness.

So, as the BCP says, “I invite you, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent…” (p. 265).

Nelson
Residential Tsedaqah Community Member

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.

Over this past year, we’ve all become aware of the need to follow – to follow the government guidance and the latest rules sometimes different in different parts of the country; to follow a new life with more online connections and methods; to follow direction signs in shops and even our cathedral, which is where the ones in the picture above were taken just before we closed.  Signs to help keep our social distance and limit the spread of the virus and the risk to us.  None of this is easy – for ourselves, nor, let’s be honest, for those making the decisions and being mindful of the repercussions.  The current closure of our cathedral was an extremely difficult decision to take, but a right one – in doing our part and being Christian; in loving neighbour and wanting to protect all of us as much as possible.  And to once more continue reach out as best we can, or with new online ways, to all whom we love within our congregations and visitors.
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But as disciples, following is something we are each familiar with, something we each wish to do; even if sometimes it’s hard or indeed sometimes we simply don’t achieve it.  Jesus calls….we follow. Trust. That incidentally, was the title of my first sermon at Westcott House in Cambridge where I trained for the church, what seems like an age ago now, in 2010.  The readings often used at this time of year remind us of the calling of the first disciples and invariably remind me of that sermon, and my own calling. 

At the time, my fellow Ordinands thought I was nuts, because I volunteered to preach to the whole house, in my first term….when I had never done so before, ever.  My logic was – well if it goes completely wrong, then I’d have two years to try to put it right.  As it happened it didn’t – and then, as at times now, my trust in Jesus should’ve been stronger.

But it wasn’t just logic which prompted me to volunteer; I was still utterly amazed, as I still am even now, that God called me from a very secure and prominent role in the NHS, to serve people in a new way.  I volunteered partly because I wanted to share just part of that wonderful journey of mine.  How amazing, and scary, it all felt; how I felt compelled to resign from my job before actually knowing I’d be chosen for training. That Jesus had in fact been calling all my life in lots of different ways, and still is – which is why I still am active in my scientific and medical life; that finally the call had become so strong I simply had to turn around and say, “what Lord, what is it?”  And when you do that, everything changes….then and now.  That Jesus called and I followed.  Trust.

In John 1:35-51, the evangelist recounts the calling of the first disciples – from their everyday lives, to something new and exciting; to Good News.  We hear how the familiar names of Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip and Nathaniel are drawn out of their lives – feel compelled to turn around and ask what is it?  Jesus often asks what they are looking for; or simply asks them to follow….and they do, usually instantly.  Jesus invites them to Come and See.  That invitation, often I imagine presented with pure love in human form, that gentle smile, those loving eyes, would bring instant trust.  Sometimes it isn’t so instant, and a little more invitation is needed – like in the case of Nathaniel.  He voices quite often the questions which go through my own mind, our own minds, when we don’t trust enough – really, are you sure?  But when we do trust and we do follow, what we encounter is the loving teacher, the Son of God, the King of Israel. 

For Jesus then, as now, is the one in whom we can put our ultimate trust, the one we can follow without worrying about it.  In these times, Jesus is the one we can trust in, that we might hold onto….even just touch a thread of his garments.  The one in whom we can put our ultimate.  Often we doubt, often I doubt; we ask ourselves, is this right, what do I do next, are you calling me to really do this?  But Jesus keeps inviting us to trust, to hold his hand, hold onto him, even if right now we cant do that with each other.  He invites us to come and see God at work even now, through the hands we hold electronically or within our prayers and calls; come and see the love of neighbour at work through what we do to protect each other, to support each other, to sustain each other.  To open our eyes to see the God given gifts which have been used by scientists, healthcare workers, by all there serving us and our most vulnerable….that will bring us through this current crisis.  To listen out now for the familiar names who are being protected, being vaccinated, within our own communities.  To see that we will be back together, seeing God at work in our cathedral; back to seeing and hearing our choir in person; back to singing and praising God with our own voices; back to inviting others to come, see, encounter a God through all the events and concerts which we hold.

Then, as now, Jesus calls – calls us to follow and be seen as following in caring for each other with all we can muster at this time.  For we know that to follow Jesus is something we can do with complete trust….to follow him, we get the ultimate direction….to follow him is salvation and healing in all its forms.  Jesus calls – we follow.  Trust.

With my love and prayers for you all; God bless you and go gently.
 
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.

Today is the Second Sunday of Epiphany. The Gospel reading is from John’s account of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  On the previous day Andrew had followed Jesus and told his brother Simon.  Today Philip follows Jesus and tells Nathanael.  When Andrew followed Jesus he said, ‘We have found the Messiah.’  When Nathanael followed Jesus he said, ‘You are the Son of God.’  To both men the true identity of Jesus has been revealed.  As Messiah and as Son of God Jesus becomes the way of communication between God and men and women.  Jesus is like a ladder between heaven and earth along which the angels (God’s messengers) travel.
 
For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited you to reflect on the image of ladders and to envisage Jesus as a ladder between heaven and earth along which the angels (God’s messengers) travel. In today’s picture from his book Christmas time with Teddy Horsley, Teddy Horsley and Betsy Bear talk with the angel.
 
Next Sunday, the Third Sunday of Epiphany, turns attention to the way in which Jesus was revealed to the wedding guests at Cana when the jars filled with water produced rich wine. The image to help us prepare for next Sunday is making wine. 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.
 
To read Christmastime with Teddy Horsley, follow this link to the relevant page of his website: https://teddyhorsley.org/other-stories/christmas-time-with-teddy-horsley. You can also find out more about him and other stories on his page of the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/TeddyHorsley.html.
 
We warmly invite you to join us in worship online here: 
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Teddy Horsley sends his Epiphanytide greetings to all.

Canon Leslie

 Photo by Suzy Brooks on Unsplash

This week has seen the first anniversary of the first Covid 19 death in Wuhan. Looking back who would have imagined the devastation that Covid 19 would have created across our world. So much pain and hurt has been seen in this past year through Covid as people mourn the death of loved ones and as people come to terms with long term illness as a result of Covid.
 
All of us have suffered in one way or another over the past year. What has been challenging for all of us is the lack of freedom that we have experienced as our world has got smaller. Loss of freedom for many has been hard. When we look back over this Covid year we realise through the Black Lives Matter campaign that many people do not have freedom because of the colour of their skin.
 
Next Monday in the United States is Martin Luther King Day. It is a holiday and the day celebrates the civil rights leader’s life and legacy. Martin Luther King Day is a tribute to King for his non-violent protest for social justice and civil rights for black people.
 
Throughout our world people are oppressed and lack freedom. Many live under unjust regimes, many live on less than five dollars a day, many are persecuted because of their race and religion. Remembering Martin Luther King gives us the hope of a better world: a world of peace, a world of justice, a world of respect for all, a world of non-violent protest. 
 
So as we wait in lockdown for our freedom to return, it is worth pausing and taking time out to remember those for whom freedom may never come, and to give thanks for all who work for freedom and justice.
 
Dean Sue

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.

One of the Micah principles is to love kindness (in some translations of the Micah 6.8 verse this is mercy). Kindness has become even more crucial to our all of lives during the last 12 months - Indeed kindness has become the glue that has held community together, kindness has given us opportunities to reach out and kindness has enabled us to become close to people even when we can’t hug or hold hands. Covid may have separated us physically but kindness has brought us together to speak out for those who cannot speak and defend the rights of those who are in particular need.
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During the winter The Cathedral social justice charity Micah https://micahliverpool.com/ has worked with another charity called Together Liverpool https://togetherliverpool.org.uk/  (this is a diocese wide charity that shares similar principles and has begun a project called the Network of Kindness). For both Micah and Together Liverpool Kindness is not just about being nice – kindness is about how we engage in social action in ways that are ethical, generous, compassionate and caring.

One of the ways Micah and Together Liverpool are sharing kindness is through the Winter Boost project that has been funded through Feeding Liverpool http://www.feedingliverpool.org/ . This project enables various foodbanks to recieve a supply of fresh fruit and vegetables throughout the winter. We have also been able to purchase a van – we have named the van Terri the Transit. Terri is a shared resource for Together Liverpool and Micah and other charities to use to ensure fresh food is collected, shared and delivered across the city.    

If you see Terri the white transit van parked in the cathedral carpark or driving around the city delivering fruit and veg (we are awaiting logos for the van so you’ll soon be able to spot it more easily) please do take this as an opportunity to pray for the work of Micah and Together Liverpool. If you’d like to support either of these charities please do get in touch with me: ellen.loudon@liverpool.anglican.org. 

I pray that 2021 will be a year filled with kindness. 

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.

Today is the First Sunday of Epiphany when the Church is celebrating the Baptism of Christ. The Gospel reading today is Mark’s account of the Baptism of Jesus. In this account, Mark presents John dressed like Elijah in the Old Testament. Dressed like this, John’s vocation is to anoint Jesus as God’s Messiah. The Hebrew word ‘Messiah’ means the ‘anointed one’, ‘the King’. For Jesus, John’s anointing is confirmed by ‘the Spirit descending like a dove’ and by the divine voice.  The words ‘You are my son’ echo Psalm 2, a Psalm used to celebrate the anointing of the king.
 
For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited you to focus on the image of coronation. In his baptism Jesus was anointed to reign over God’s people. In today’s picture from his book, Water, Teddy Horsley is looking at the baptism window in his church where John the Baptist is anointing Jesus and the Spirit is descending on him like a dove.
 
Next Sunday, the Second Sunday of Epiphany, the Gospel reading from the beginning of John’s Gospel pictures Jesus as the link between heaven and earth. The image to help us prepare for that reading is ladders. 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.
 
To find about more about Teddy Horsley’s book, Water, as well as other Teddy Horsley adventures, check out his page of the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/TeddyHorsley.html, or his own website here: https://teddyhorsley.org/.
 
We warmly invite you to join us in worship today here: 
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​Teddy sends his Sunday greetings to all.
 
Canon Leslie

When the first lockdown began last March, I had little or no experience of ‘blogging’. I had never written such a thing, and had only ever glanced at one or two I happened to come across through the Internet. Dean Sue suggested that we clergy might produce one each day on ‘Prayer for Liverpool,’ and I agreed to cover Thursdays each week. I might have shown a bit more reluctance had I realised how long all this was going to last! Thursdays started to come round all too frequently.
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We should not look for a reward, but there was one of sorts. All sorts of people got in touch, by email, text or in person, to say how much they appreciated what each of us wrote. The blogs clearly touched people quite deeply and were valued by many of those who sought out ‘Prayer for Liverpool’ at a time when many were longing to find comfort and hope, just to keep going.

Looking back, the blog I shall treasure is the very first one, entitled ‘Stones crying out.’ It came to me as I took my daily exercise along Upper Parliament Street and Hope Street and back again. There stood the Cathedral, silent and still, in a city which was also as silent as I have ever known it. There was little or no traffic, and in those earliest days of lockdown, hardly anyone on foot. Canon Neal was able to take delight in all the sight and sounds of nature as Spring unfolded. I merely felt the silence all around.

I write this on the day after the Prime Minister told us for the third time of asking that we must stay at home. While there are very good reasons for this, in order to save lives and preserve the life and work of NHS, I wondered if it might lead to the same dark depression, and for some, despair, which was felt by many last March. Thankfully, the roll-out of vaccines, delivered to us with incredible speed, points in a different direction, and, although the time scale must remain uncertain, it allows us to hope for the future, which as people of faith, we trust that God longs for people to share.

Those of us whose privilege it is to worship within the walls of our great Cathedral church will continue to pray each day that God shall  wipe away all tears from our eyes, and no longer a distant dream, that ‘there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ (Revelation 21)

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.

This time last year I had never contemplated writing anything that could even loosely be described as a ‘Blog’ any more than I could have guessed that I would have become competent at ‘live – streaming’ Morning Prayer from the Lady Chapel!
Blog wise I have done a little research and discovered that this is my eighteenth and as is traditional at this time I am going to take the opportunity of reviewing this last remarkable year.

Pauline and I are still walking which, if I am honest, has become something of an obsession. We have averaged over thirty miles a week for the last ten months adding up to more than 1,200 miles which means we soon could make Paris and back! In the summer I grumbled that during our walks we had to negotiate joggers and cyclists little knowing that the real enemy would be electric scooters.

In an early blog I paid tribute to members of the Diocesan cricket team of the 1980s and 90s. Sadly old age and illness have continued to take their toll in 2020 notably with the death of Jonathan Anders. Jonathon was a great supporter of the team in many ways not least when he and Elsie opened up St Anne’s vicarage as a venue for our annual dinners. He was a fine and gentle vicar and an outstanding Christian man.

Throughout last year the need for calm and clear leadership of diocese and cathedral could not have been more important or challenging. I believe that in Liverpool we could not have been better served. Our Cathedral building, subject to changing rules and regulations has continued to inspire and stands as a symbol of hope. The intimate Ordination Services in September will live long in the memory as will the recent Christmas ones as we have worshipped together in greater numbers.

On a personal note we acquired yet another grandchild in October which meant that on Christmas Day in 10 Lady Chapel Close there were (legally!) six adults and four children the eldest of whom was three! Thankfully Santa saw the sign and stopped.

All of the above seems to indicate that there are reasons to be thankful as well to lament and there is no doubt that the memories we have will in some ways shape the way we approach the future. In an earlier blog I disclosed that Myles and I attended the same school and so we have known each other in one way or another for over fifty years. As he retires, in my role as Chair of the House of Clergy, I  would like to send him my best wishes and the thanks of hundreds of ordinands who have benefitted from his care, kindness, and support and who are now flourishing in ministry.

So we stand at the beginning of another year with all its hopes and fears and I wish you all God’s blessing.

Canon Bob
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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.