Highlights
While we have been remembering with gratitude and sadness the many lives lost in conflict but especially those in the First World War; the armistice was also a moment of joy that the end of the war had come. Sometimes we long for the end to come in our political dealings as well, although they usually chug on somehow, as indeed they usually need to!
Read MorePortsmouth Cathedral is lighting its tower red for Remembrance Weekend marking the 100 years of the end of the First World War and the 1918 Armistice.
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Remembrance Sunday is always a poignant, moving and important day. Even more so this year as we commemorate one hundred years since the end of the First World War. As we stand in silence we remember all of those men and women who have given so much to ensure that we can live the lives we do today.
Read MoreHere at Portsmouth Cathedral, we are fortunate to have dedicated membership of bell ringers who ring the 12 bells in the cathedral tower. This weekend for Remembrance Sunday they will be ringing to remember the Armistice 100 years ago:
Read MorePortsmouth Cathedral is fortunate to have volunteers who support the many different activities which enable our ministry to the community. This year, with the centenary of the First World War Armistice, we have been reflecting on how so many families in Portsmouth were affected by the war.
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As we draw to the end of a liturgical year, the church turns to matters of life, death, holiness and the world to come. November presents the church with the opportunity to ask what life is all about before the hectic preparations of Advent and Christmas begin.
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I would naturally want to begin the highlights in late October by talking about how it’s getting darker and it’s getting colder. Being darker might ring true but the weather hasn’t seemed to be following the normal pattern; just this week I was sitting in a pub garden with the sun shining down wondering if it was still August.
Read MoreOne of the ways that Portsmouth Cathedral is marking the 100th anniversary of the Armistice ending the First World War is by creating a Field of Remembrance on Cathedral Green around the War Memorial. Members of the public are invited to visit Portsmouth Cathedral, in Old Portsmouth, make a poppy and place it in the Field of Remembrance on Cathedral Green.
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Last Saturday I was in Boxgrove Priory working with some singers from the Royal School of Church Music. We sang in the Chancel, next to what was once the Chantry Chapel of Thomas West, 9th Lord de la Warr. Chantry chapels were built to honor the dearly departed by the regular (perhaps daily) saying of Mass to assist the speedy flight of the soul of the person who had endowed the chapel from his or her mortal remains to Heaven, with the shortest stay in Limbo or Purgatory as possible.
Read MoreWelcome to another article where Annual Theme Curator, Sharon Court, explores the Cathedral’s Time programme in more detail. In this section we’ll be looking back at events which took place during the summer and autumn of 2018 and considering the impact which all these events have had.
Read MoreThis year’s annual theme at Portsmouth Cathedral is focused on ‘Time’. The latest exhibition at the Cathedral included a display of fossils and dinosaur bone, on loan from both ‘Dinosaur Isle’ on the Isle of Wight and the University of Portsmouth.
Read MoreThis Sunday is a very full day and brings together many aspects of the life and ministry of the Cathedral.
We are known as ‘The Cathedral of the Sea’ and at the Seafarers Service this morning we celebrate, remember and commemorate all those who ‘go down to the sea in ships’ and those who support them in doing so. We give thanks for all that this means to us in terms of industry, commerce, defence and the life of our city.
Read MorePortsmouth Cathedral is to host a series of exhibitions, live art and digital art displays, alongside other local venues as part of the third annual, Journeys Festival International Portsmouth (19-28 October).
Read MorePortsmouth Cathedral has teamed up with Portsmouth City Council's energy services team to put a 6.6kW solar array on Cathedral House in St Thomas's Street, Old Portsmouth.
Read MoreThe Cathedral’s Annual Theme for 2018 has been focussed on Time, and as part of that we’ve been making Time to Learn, Time to Reflect and Time to Engage. We have already mentioned the hugely successful ‘Planetarium and Pancakes’ Family activity day which took place during February half-term. In this article, Sharon Court, our Annual Theme Curator, reviews more of the practical workshops and events which have happened during the year as part of the annual theme programme.
Read MoreHighlights: 1918 Anniversaries and Music
Our 100 days of Commemoration of WWI continues, leading up to the centenary of the Armistice on 11th November. This Sunday also happens to be the exact centenary of the death of the composer C. H. H. Parry, who died aged 70 in the 1918 influenza epidemic. So at the Royal Marines Band Service Memorial Service this morning, the anthem will be ‘Blest pair of sirens’, Parry’s glorious setting of John Milton’s ‘Ode at a Solemn Musick.’ And at the evening Eucharist one of the hymns will be ‘Dear Lord and Father,’ set to Parry’s much loved tune called ‘Repton’ (originally written for his 1888 oratorio ‘Judith’ – which is being revived at the South Bank next year).
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In Harry Potter, pupils are taught the Patronus charm that summons a silvery animal guardian to protect you in times of peril. A patron is someone who gives support to a person, cause or organisation, such as a patron of the arts. As Christianity spread, churches were built on the sites of where prominent Christians were born, lived or even martyred, and so the church was often named after them. Patron saints are prayed to for different areas of life, such as Catholics praying to St Anthony when they have lost something.
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For the last two terms Becket’s Bunch have been time travelling back to the stories Jesus would have heard as a boy, beginning with Creation and ending in July with Jonah. This has been quite a challenge but using ideas from Godly Play, we have been able to involve even the smallest children in listening and responding. It is of course, the power of story itself which makes this possible.
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Church bells are a significant, but often forgotten, part of church life. Bells mark out the passing of time in the form of a church clock. Bells ring for services, and to celebrate ecclesiastical and civic occasions. Bells might ring in times of war to warn of danger. Bells toll slowly to mark the death or funeral. The noise of bells is part of the church’s message to wider society: they mark in sound the life of the church.
Read MoreThis weekend Portsmouth Cathedral will be flying a rainbow flag. Saturday 15th is the main event of Portsmouth Pride and we will also, with many other Christians from the city and beyond, be taking part in the Pride parade and hosting a stall at the Pride even on the bandstand field.
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