Portsmouth Cathedral News

Red is the liturgical colour used on the Feast of Pentecost as the colour of fire and flames, symbolising the Holy Spirit which descended on the first apostles in tongues of fire. The red frontal we use today depicts the Holy Spirit in the form of a hovering dove, recalling how the Spirit hovered over the face of the waters at the start of creation in the book of Genesis. The flames represent the flowering of the Holy Spirit. The liturgical set is one of a number made between 2007-2009 by Jane Lemon and the Sarum Group. Red is appropriate also for services which focus on the gift of the Holy Spirit, and is therefore suitable for Baptism, Confirmation and Ordination.

Read More

Highlights

A few decades ago an acronym became so popular in certain circles that it was even printed on T-shirts: WWJD? (What would Jesus do?)

Read More

The theme of the third Hampshire Festival of the Mind is connected to Portsmouth Cathedral’s theme of the year which is ‘Time’.

Portsmouth Cathedral, Monday 14 May 10.30am – 3.30pm

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/its-about-time-tickets-44928260637

Read More

In the previous article ‘Time to Learn part 1’ we revisited the speakers who have visited since the start of 2018. The months ahead look to be as interesting and diverse as the first part of the year!

We have artworks and events scheduled for May, which will be covered in a separate article. In June, Sharon Court, our Annual Theme curator, will be offering a talk and workshop as part of the Portsmouth Festivities. Titled ‘Rest as Resistance’ it will invite the audience to reconsider how the busyness of their lives might be counter-productive to their wellbeing.

Read More

Time sermons

So far this year we have had a sermon each month on the theme of Time.
Peter launched the theme in January; I offered some reflections on ‘Liturgical Time’ in February; Ruth Tuschling preached in March about ‘the Soul in Time’ and how we grow spiritually. The Dean’s Holy Week addresses concluded on Easter Day at Evensong, linking poetry and the WWI centenary with thoughts about time, hope and eternity.

Read More

Dr David Price, Canon Peter Leonard, two of the Choral Scholars and some former members of the Cathedral Choir will be running the Tough Mudder on 19th May to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK.  Here, Canon Peter Leonard explains why he decided to take on the challenge:

Read More

Highlights

A number of choral scholars past, present and future together with David Price and myself are currently training for Tough Mudder. The Tough Mudder website describes it as a “10-12 mile mud and obstacle course designed to drag you out of your comfort zone by testing your physical strength, stamina, and mental grit. With no podiums, winners, or clocks to race against, it’s not about how fast you can cross the finish line. Rather, it’s a challenge that emphasizes teamwork, camaraderie, and accomplishing something almost as tough as you are.”

Read More

​​​​​​​Time to Learn part 1

Somehow it seems that we have found ourselves at the end of April, with May just around the corner? How time has flown past already this year!

Read More

Highlights

Unusually for my overactive imagination and very busy mind, I have been struggling with what to say for today's highlights. Normally, I have far too much to say, but once the pressure was turned up, I started to panic, so I decided to do something else. Walking around the house I saw a copy of this year's APCM report, and a word caught my eye...’parochial’.

Read More

Highlights

As always there are many things which I could highlight from this notice sheet. It could be the clock tours, as part of Heritage Open Days in September, the new Living Faith course module which is about to start or the next Doctor Who evening focusing on Tom Baker and led by the Reverend Canon Will Hughes, Vicar of Petersfield.

Read More

Choir Time

Over the last 25 days our Cathedral choirs have undertaken 30 events from regular Evensong to Messiah, three CD recording sessions, Holy Week, Easter and an Evensong at Westminster Abbey.

The clock was always against us in rehearsals and preparation time for all these services, concerts and recordings. Marshalling singers, small and large, young and older; instrumentalists and artists all takes time. And there is rarely enough of it.

Read More

Highlights

The child still lurking somewhere inside me loves the Easter Egg Hunt on the Cathedral Green following the 10.30 Eucharist on Easter Day. 300 eggs and usually over 100 children adds up to a real excitement, and not a little chaos.

Read More

Highlights

Palm Sunday begins our journey through Holy Week, as we remember and re-live what Jesus did and what was done to him, his action and his Passion. These significant days for us opened up an eternity of hope and joy, and so it is good to take part as much as we can in the services, and take the opportunity to reflect and to rejoice that so great a salvation was won for us.

Read More

Highlights

On Tuesday we will have our next Dr Who event of the year. As Canon Peter has commented a number of times, the regeneration is a particularly significant feature of the series and the character of the Doctor. There is something about Passiontide and Easter that is similar for Christians because it is through these events that we are told what kind of God it is that we believe in, and what it is to embrace Christian character and virtue.

Read More

Highlights

As we come to the end of Fairtrade Fortnight (and I hope those of you who are attending Sunday morning worship enjoy the Fairtrade Breakfast!). We look forward to an art exhibition moving into the ambulatory from Friday. The Fairtrade Gold Exhibition runs from Friday 16th March to Sunday 25th March with a reception after Choral Evensong this Friday 16th. It is a set of 16 striking images, quotes and stories from gold mining communities in South America and East Africa which highlight the challenges facing small-scale gold miners, and the difference which Fairtrade can make to their lives.

Read More

Highlights
Chaos Theory includes the Butterfly Effect, which states that the smallest change in one system can have a huge impact on other, larger parts of the system. So, if a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazonian rainforest, this could affect the weather in another part of the world. How do our actions impact the world around us, both near and far?

Read More