Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.
Psalm 89.14
 
During lockdown charities such as Micah have stepped up to support the most vulnerable in our communities. Across the city region the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector has supported the work of the statutory bodies to provide food to those who were shielding, as well as medical supplies and other support. The sector has stepped in and stepped up to work to the optimum.

The cathedral and other faith communities have been praying for this work, praying for those in particular need and prayerfully supporting those in our care. In these unprecedented times we have worked together and witnessed a harvest of justice and mercy. The generosity of so many has enabled this work to continue – you have been the farmers who have generously given up of your harvest.

As we look forward to our service of Harvest Thanksgiving on September 20th during the 10.30am Eucharist we pray this work. We give thanks for those who have continued to produce, farm and manage our food supplies: The farmers who have managed and tended the land, the delivery drivers, manual labourers, shop keepers, caterers, those who prepare food, and all those who feed us.  And we pray for those who are in need of the harvest of justice and mercy: the displaced people in our communities, those struggling financially, those who are isolated and alone and the sick and dying.   

If you are able to support Micah we would very much welcome your financial support. In terms of food supplies we have had a good harvest but financially we need your backing as we work toward an unknown future. The best way to give is through our JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/micahliverpool if you’d like to become a regular donor then please do get in touch with me: ellen.loudon@liverpool.anglican.org.

Over the next few weeks Micah Van Driver Martin will be premiering a video he has produced about the work of Micah(see the photo above). Please do look out for that on the twitter feed: https://twitter.com/MicahLiverpool.

You can join us for our Cathedral Harvest service on Sept 20th either online or in person by booking:  https://www.liverpoolcathedral.org.uk/home/worship-here/regular-services.aspx.

And your prayers are always very welcome.

Prayer for Micah Liverpool:
 
Loving God,
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
Steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
We give you thanks for the work of Micah Liverpool:
For the generosity of our volunteers, staff and those who donate food and contribute financially.
We give thanks that we are able to offer emergency food to those who need it.
We look for your coming Kingdom and pray that we may play our part in bringing in a harvest of righteousness and justice and mercy,
and that we may walk humbly with you our God as we continue to serve the most vulnerable in our city.
In the name of your son Jesus Christ, who came to save.
Amen
 
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.

​The Gospel reading for this Sunday is from Matthew’s fourth block of Jesus’ teaching. This is the chapter on the relationships among Christians, or life in the church, and is sometimes described as a community rule. There are a number of different ways to read this teaching, but perhaps the most helpful way is to note how Matthew hinges this teaching around his application of the parable of the lost sheep.
 
In his community rule Matthew seems to be saying that the Church (the followers of Jesus) have a responsibility to seek those who have lost their way, just as the shepherd has a responsibility to seek the lost sheep.
 
The problem for the readers of Matthew’s Gospel comes with assessing the mechanism that Matthew proposes for dealing with those who refuse to be found.
 
To prepare for this Sunday’s service I invited those of you who want to do some thinking beforehand to focus on the image of hide and seek. In today’s picture from his book Hide and Seek, Teddy Horsley shows just how much he likes playing this game.
 
Next week the image to help us prepare for participation in the Sunday service, whether offline in the Cathedral or online at home, is the game of the mender, when the Gospel reading, still from Matthew’s community rule, is about forgiveness. 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.
 
If you’d like to learn more about Teddy Horsley and his writings, visit his website: https://teddyhorsley.org/, or his page on the website of St. Mary’s Centre: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/TeddyHorsley.html.
 
We warmly invite you to join us in worship online here (video goes live at 10:30am):
​

Teddy Horsley sends his Sunday greetings to all.
​
Canon Leslie

​
My picture today was taken in the gardens of the Community of The Resurrection, Mirfield. The Community of the Resurrection is a community of brothers who live together, rooted in the Anglican tradition and formed in the monastic round of prayer, worship and ministry.
 
The community offers hospitality and a place where people can come to to reflect on God and to wait on God. I have been coming here for a number of years and I try to come in the first few weeks of September. It was here that I prayed through and completed my application for the role of Dean in Liverpool. It was here I came when I was going through a very challenging time in my ministry.
 
Coming to Mirfield gives me the opportunity to stop, to think, to pray and to reset my inner life and to wait on the God who knows and loves me. Mirfield gives me the space to reflect on the past and to look to the future.
 
I last came here for a couple of nights in January and what a lot has happened since then! At that time we were just beginning to realise the seriousness of COVID 19  and the effect it was having on other countries, but little did we realise what was to come.
 
While the brothers have remained untouched by COVID 19 they, like the rest of us, have had to change the way they operate in order to keep the community safe. In January when I came to Mirfield we sat and ate our meals with the brothers, we did not socially distance. We walked the long corridor to the Chapel together, there was no segregation. We had afternoon tea with the brothers and the opportunity to tell stories, to catch up on their lives and the lives of other guests.
 
Today, there is no sharing of meals with the brothers, there is no afternoon tea, there is the long walk to the Chapel on the outside of the building. There is social distancing.
 
What does remain the same is the worship. Each day the brothers pray together. They pray four times a day; Mattins in the morning, midday prayers, evensong and compline. There is a rhythm to the day that is comforting and despite all the changes taking place in the world the regular prayers that this community offers gives stability to a world that is forever changing.
 
As I sit in the gardens of Mirfield I am aware that changes are coming once again as we move in to Autumn. The trees are beginning to lose their fruit and their leaves. The blackberries are coming to the end of the season and everywhere I walk there is a carpet of acorns. Despite the physical changes I see one thing I am sure of, as I sit and look at the beauty of creation, is that God’s steadfastness will not change. I am sure that whatever happens in the next few months God will walk with us, God will abide with us and for me the liturgy whether it be prayed here or in Liverpool Cathedral will give me the framework to give thanks, to lament and to praise the God who knows and loves us.

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.

The other day a ‘Memory’ appeared on my Facebook page with pictures I had taken on a family holiday a little less than 3 years ago. There was Pauline and myself along with our daughter and son in law and son and daughter in law. There was a clue that things were about to change in our lives as you didn’t have to look too closely to see that our daughter was not far away from giving birth! However there is no way on earth that I could have  guessed how profound that change would be. Now by October (God willing) we will have four grandchildren all under the age of three!

Thankfully both families live reasonably locally and so we see them at least weekly and usually more often. My day off (now non negotiable) is spent helping (helping being the appropriate word) with childcare. It has been an enormous privilege to watch and touch new life making its way into the world. I have always had my problems with the doctrine of ‘Original Sin’ and these last few years have reinforced my doubts.