Welcome from Canon Nick Ralph

It is marvellous to be able to enjoy good weather where we can, but we are also very conscious that our enjoyment is compromised somewhat by the limitations on seeing family and friends and doing the things we usually want to do because of the corona virus.  

While it is also rather too easy to worry about these things, the fact is that some people have lost their jobs, many are still on furlough, lots are concerned about their finances and how they will cope. It is natural to be concerned about the future in the midst of so much uncertainty whatever your age. From children concerned about schools, friends, and exams, to older people worried about their families and their own health. My 91 year old mother is concerned at how much time she has left to see the people she wants to see and how long it is going to be before things will be back to some sort of normal.  

The problem of course is that we just don’t know and there are many questions but fewer answers. But rather than dwell on all the uncertainties, sometimes it is best, where we are able, to exercise some personal restraint and direct our thoughts in other ways.  

Jeanne de Caussade was an 18th century French Jesuit priest and writer who talked about ‘the sacrament of the present moment’.  

At a time when sacraments are hard to come by, thinking of the present moment itself as a sacrament has something helpful to offer us. A sacrament is an outward and visible sign of God’s inward and invisible love, so to talk about the present moment as a sacrament means valuing this moment that God has himself given us, as a gift as something special as something to be valued most highly.

And if we start to see the present moment, heat, limitations, uncertainties and all, as a gift rather than a burden, then this is in fact a divine given opportunity that is ours to make something of and might help us begin to glimpse more of the divine in our everyday lives as well as helping others to do the same as well.

If we could learn to be satisfied with the present moment, with what we have, and not always straining for more, we might all also be more content.

It was a cartoonist, Bill Keane, who coined the phrase: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.

The Reverend Canon Nick Ralph
Residentiary Canon

Visiting the Cathedral

The Cathedral is now open daily from 10.00am to 2.00pm and on Sundays from 11.45pm to 2.00pm. A huge thank you to all the volunteers who have offered their time to enable us to open. You can find more information about what to expect when you visit, including the safety measures we are taking here.

Holy Communion - Sunday 9 August

We look forward to welcoming you in person to the Cathedral on Sunday morning, when we will be holding four services of Holy Communion. It is still possible (at time of sending) to pre-book a place at the 8.00am, 9.00am, 10.00am and 11.00am services through Eventbrite.

With the Cathedral now reopened for public worship, flowers have returned.  We are most grateful to the Flower Guild for their skill and expertise in volunteering to create these wonderful displays.  Each pedestal though does cost around £100 in flowers to create so if you would like to make a donation toward this cost in memory of a loved one or to recognise a significant life event please contact our Head of Fundraising and Events Sophie Henstridge-Brown at sophie.henstridge-brown@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk. Your donation will be acknowledged and thanked in the weekly notices, with your permission.

Face coverings in the Cathedral

In compliance with last week’s Government announcement it will be necessary from tomorrow, Saturday 8 August, to wear a face covering when in the Cathedral, unless you are exempt under the regulations. If you do have an exemption please let us know when you arrive as you will be very welcome to enter the building for services, private prayer to visit. In line with Church of England and Government guidance, those leading worship will not wear face coverings whilst they are leading the service except during the administration of communion.

Changes to opening hours this week

Due to a funeral and a wedding and the limitation on numbers of people allowed in the Cathedral at a time, our opening hours for the coming week have changed:

• Thursday 13 August – open for visiting until 12.15pm:- Midday Communion will go ahead.

• Saturday 15 August – open for visiting from soon after 12.15pm:- There will be no Midday Communion

“Good to Go” Covid-19 accreditation

The Cathedral is pleased to have been awarded the “Good to Go” accreditation from Visit Britain. Acquiring this Industry Standard mark means that the Cathedral has followed government and Church of England COVID-19 guidelines, and has a Risk Assessment in place and processes to maintain cleanliness and aid social distancing.

We will continue to review our current practice and take into account any updates in Government and Church of England advice.  The clergy, staff and our volunteers will continue to work to ensure the Cathedral is as safe a place as possible to visit.

In the notices this week:

• New bus route in Old Portsmouth on Sundays

• Ride and Stride - Saturday 12 September 2020

• Recruiting for a Digital Marketing Manager

• Revision of Electoral Roll

• Online Resources

• Contactless donations

• Give as You Live

• Ecclesiastical Trust130

• Supporting Portsmouth Cathedral

• Online worship including the order of service for Sunday 9 August

• Regular details of prayers and intercessions and ways to contact the Cathedral.

New bus route in Old Portsmouth on Sundays

We are delighted to hear that a new bus service, the number 25, will be starting up from Sunday 30 August. The route will start and terminate at The Hard, serving shops in Southsea, continuing via Albert Road to Bransbury Park and on to the Hayling Ferry.

The service will run 7 days a week, with six return journeys on Sundays stopping right outside Portsmouth Cathedral.

We are really grateful to everyone who has worked to start this new service, and to Portsmouth City Council who are subsidising it.

Ride and Stride – Saturday 12 September 2020

The annual Ride and Stride will be taking place on Saturday 12 September, raising money for the Hampshire and the Islands Historic Churches Trust (HIHCT) who work to preserve our region’s historic churches and chapels of all denominations. The event invites people to walk, cycle, drive, ride or run to as many churches in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight as you wish in one day, whilst raising sponsorship money for the HIHCT.

Ride and Stride will go ahead this year, albeit with modifications to accommodate social distancing. Dean Anthony has already committed to cycling to as many churches on the Isle of Wight as possible!

If you would like to take part, information is available on the HIHCT website here. The easiest and safest way to collect donations is online via Virgin Money Giving here. We strongly recommend this option in light of Covid-19.

As well as raising funds for HIHCT, you can also nominate Portsmouth Cathedral to receive half of your sponsorship money and we do encourage you to consider this in the light of our challenging financial circumstances.

Please do let us know that you’ll be participating by emailing info@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk

Recruiting for a new Digital Marketing Manager

Thanks to a new grant from the Cathedral Sustainability Fund designed to help Portsmouth Cathedral to become financially sustainable, we will shortly be advertising for a Digital Marketing Manager to join our team. This is an important role that will play a key part in delivering the forthcoming Vision and Strategy.

The role will be advertised from Monday 10 August, and will be included in next week’s notices. Please help us find the best person for the job by sharing this opportunity with friends, family and colleagues.

Revision of Electoral Roll

The Electoral Roll will be reviewed from Friday 14 to Friday 28 August. From this year the only details made public will be limited to title, initials and last name which will be displayed in the Cathedral from Friday 14 August. If you would like to join the Electoral Roll, a form is on the following link or please contact the Cathedral Office.

Online Resources

A reminder that resources for prayer, worship, and family activities at home can be found on our website here

Contactless donations

The next time you visit the Cathedral you might notice our new contactless donation points. Provided by Goodbox, they allow people to make a donation by contactless card or phone in the Cathedral for the first time.

We hope that, alongside the two donation boxes for cash donations, contactless giving will make it easier for visitors to give a donation. This will be very important in helping the Cathedral to become financially sustainable.

We are hugely grateful to Nicky Taylor, Finance Officer, for working for over a year to get contactless giving set up.

Give as You Live

Support Portsmouth Cathedral whilst doing your usual online shopping! Simply sign up to Give As You Live and Portsmouth Cathedral will receive a donation every time you shop through their website.

Sign up here and add ‘Portsmouth Cathedral Development Trust’ as your charity of choice. Do also set a donation reminder to remind you to shop via Give As You Live.

Ecclesiastical Trust130

Insurance provider Ecclesiastical are marking their 130th anniversary by donating £130 to a church or Cathedral when a new home insurance policy is taken out before 31 December 2020. If you decide to take a policy with Ecclesiastical this year, please take advantage of their Trust130 promotion and nominate Portsmouth Cathedral. You can find out more on their website here.

Supporting Portsmouth Cathedral

Over past weeks we have been sharing some of the profound financial challenges that Portsmouth Cathedral faces. The Cathedral team has done everything possible to reduce expenditure and Chapter has approved revised budgets for 2020 and 2021 which see deep cuts of almost 40%. Even with such drastic measures, we will be unable to achieve balanced budgets and to continue our ministry in the way we aspire to without the support of our congregation.

We know many people are facing financially challenging circumstances. If you are able to, please consider making a new or increased regular or one-off donation to support our work. Every gift is hugely valued and very gratefully received. If you are a UK taxpayer, signing up for Gift Aid will enable us to claim an additional 25% of your donation from HMRC.

Ways to make a regular donation:

• By Direct Debit – via the Parish Giving Scheme by calling 0333 002 1271. Lines are open Monday-Friday between 9.00am and 5.00pm. You will need your bank details ready as well as this reference information: Church name: Portsmouth Cathedral, Parish Giving Scheme parish code: 290629001

• By Standing Order – please contact sophie.henstridge-brown@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk for our bank details and reference number

Ways to make a one-off donation:

• By bank transfer – please contact sophie.henstridge-brown@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk for our bank details

• By cheque – payable to ‘Portsmouth Cathedral Chapter’ and sent to the Cathedral Offices

• Online here. Please note that online donations incur a fee from the online provider, if you wish us to receive all of your donation and Gift Aid, please use bank transfer or cheque.

Thank you to everyone who has generously increased their giving recently, we are hugely grateful.

If you would like to talk about how your gift can make a difference, please contact our Head of Fundraising Sophie Henstridge-Brown on sophie.henstrdge-brown@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk.

Online worship

Monday-Saturday                            

8.15am Morning Prayer                    
5.30pm Evening Prayer              
Compline is paused for the month of August returning on 1st September

Sunday

8.00am Holy Communion (BCP)
9.00am Holy Communion
5.30pm Evensong followed by online refreshments at 6.30pm
Compline is paused for the month of August returning on 1st September

How to join the services

You do not need to be a member of Facebook to join the services. Please use this link when the service is about to begin. You will see a prompt asking you to join Facebook; just click ‘not now’. Orders of service can be found on the Resources Section of our website here.

Order of Service for Sunday 9 August

The order of service for Eucharist on Sunday 9 August can be found here.

How to join the online Refreshments via Zoom

Sunday Refreshments will be hosted on Zoom at 6.30pm. In order to maintain security details will be sent with our emailed notices.

Prayers and Intercessions

Cathedral Prayers

All those affected by COVID-19

All those affected by the devastating explosion in Port of Beirut.

We remember the following for whom prayer has been asked by members of the Cathedral Community: Christopher, Clare, Sally, David, Bob, Derek, Nigel, Trevor, Izzy, Jenifer, Jenny, Des, (baby) Jonah, George, Clare, Bishop Peter Hancock and all those in need.

All those who have died:John Carpenter, Mark Noble, Carolyn Harry and Renee Chilton RIP.

Requesting an addition to the prayer list

To add someone to the prayer list, please email info@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk

Getting in touch

We know that this is a lonely and anxious time for many people. Please feel free to get in touch if we can help in any way, or if you just want to hear another voice!

Over August, the Clergy and lay staff will be taking holiday. Please bear with us if it takes us longer to get back to you than usual.

By phone:                                                                                                                                                             

Canon Jo Spreadbury: 023 9275 2335

Cathedral Curate, Catherine Edenborough: 023 9282 3300 extn 221 (Usual days at the Cathedral: Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday)

Messages can also be left on the Cathedral phone system 023 9282 3300 and will be responded to as necessary.     

By email:

Canon Jo Spreadbury Jo.Spreadbury@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk

Cathedral Curate, Catherine Edenborough: Catherine.Edenborough@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk

For pastoral matters pastoral@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk

General matters info@portsmouthcathedral.org.uk