One of my favourite post-Easter bible passages is John 21. Jesus encounters the disciples fishing, encouraging them to put the net on the other side of the boat and calls them ashore to join him for food.
Jesus later speaks to Peter asking him if he loves Him and tells him to feed his sheep and tend his lambs. This passage alone is so rich in helping us to understand who Jesus is and also what it means to be one of his disciples.
There are three things from this passage that resonate with my experience of Lincoln Cathedral while I have been here training for Ordination. Hospitality, community and encountering Jesus – and I offer these reflections on each one to you.
Hospitality. The Cathedral is a place of hospitality and welcome and this is what I have received and experienced whilst I have been here. We offer this to all who come through the doors each day whether tourist or pilgrim. We share with them the welcome and hospitality that Jesus and the disciples shared. I want to thank you for the way you have made me feel welcome, coming to a place that was on one hand so familiar and yet on the other so unfamiliar.
Community. The community of the Cathedral is far more vast and complicated than I had realised. There are communities within the community that I didn’t know existed but I have had the privilege of getting to know some of these communities. There are three particularly that I want to acknowledge. Firstly the volunteers who are so dedicated to the Cathedral and enable so much of its life to flourish, serving others as an example of Jesus who came to serve. Secondly the worshipping communities. They regularly pray and worship God, helping to make the Cathedral a light that shines on a hill across the city and county. Finally I want to mention the staff at the Cathedral who I have been able to work with. I had the privilege of working with the glaziers, domus, stonemasons and joiners in their work to care for and maintain the Cathedral; The vergers who make the Cathedral tick and work so smoothly; The teams in visitor services, the refectory, events, education and music who serve with their special gifts and skills. Although many of staff do not profess to have a faith, they care so passionately about the Cathedral. I have loved working with them, learning new skills, getting to know them and trying to answer their questions about faith and why I am training for ordination.
Encountering Jesus. The Cathedral is a place of awe and wonder. People come to experience this, to remember loved ones, to find peace and sanctuary from a messy world and to encounter God. During my time here I have encountered God in new ways. Through the people I have met, the building itself, through the many services but particularly Evensong and at Easter and in the stillness of being in the Cathedral early in the morning before Morning Prayer. The Cathedral enables people to experience who Jesus is in so many ways, sometimes unexpected.
It has been a pleasure and a privilege to be part of the Cathedral community. I have loved serving amongst you, getting to know you and becoming friends, like Jesus and the disciples were friends. Thank you to all of you for making me so welcome. I will continue to cherish my time at the Cathedral as I move on to my curacy and I will really miss you. Please be assured of my prayers and may God bless you all.
SIMON DEAN, ORDINAND
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Worship & Mission
Lectio Divina Bible Reflection Group
The meeting due to take place on Saturday 18 May has been cancelled. The next meeting will now be on 8 June. Full details will be published in the next Chapter Letter.
Spiritual Classics Reading Group
The reading group meeting due to take place on 18 May has also been cancelled. The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kepis will now be discussed at the following meeting, date to be confirmed in the next Chapter Letter.
Stillpoint
Saturday 25 May, 9am-9.45am
You are invited to 45 minutes of guided silent prayer in the Ringers’ Chapel of Lincoln Cathedral. No experience of contemplative prayer needed. All are welcome.
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Community
Thank you
Valerie Wallis would like to thank all those who have been so kind and supportive to us both during Tim’s long illness, and also to everyone who helped at Tim’s funeral on 23rd April. She is very thankful for your love and prayers.
Canon Jane Freebairn-Smith RIP
Jane died peacefully Monday 29 April at her new home in North London. Many will remember Jane and her ministry here at the Cathedral as Honorary Canon, duty chaplain, regular leader of worship and pastoral visitor. Her funeral will be held on 25 May at 11am, at All Saints Church Oakleigh Rd, London, N20.
Please remember Jane’s children; Veronica, Alice and Justin and her grandchildren in your prayers.
Plans are being made for a coach to take Lincoln and Hykeham friends to her funeral, if you would like to join the coach please register your interest with the Dean’s Verger; Vestry – 01522 261638. Mobile – 07733 276335. Email – deansverger@lincolncathedral.com.
A contribution of £5 is requested to offset the cost of travel.
Anne Askew – A Woman of Courage in Tudor Lincolnshire
Thursday 23 May 2019 at 7.30pm
The County Assembly Rooms, Bailgate.
Script-in-Hand presents a new play by local author Margaret Crompton. In 1545, Anne Askew read the Bible illegally in Lincoln Cathedral. The play focuses on her peaceful protest and its significance for our own understanding of freedom. Admission free: donations for The Shannon Trust.
LCCA Pentecost Tea Party
Sunday 9 June 2019, after Evensong
To be held in the Cloisters. Tickets are now available from committee members at £3.50 each. Tea and cakes will be provided.
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Events
Organ Concert Series 2019
Saturday 18 May, 7pm, Colin Walsh
Saturday 15 June, 7pm, Martin Baker
Saturday 20 July, 7pm, Hilary Punnett
Saturday 21 September, 7pm, Charles Harrison
Friday 4 October, 7pm, Organ Extravaganza
Sunday 22 December, 5.30pm, La Nativité du Seigneur
Be a Chorister for the Day!
Saturday 15 June, 1.30pm
Love singing? Take part in this fantastic opportunity. Explore the song school and experience what it is like to be a chorister. For more information contact 01522 504398 or music@lincolncathedral.com
Come and Sing
Saturday 22 June, 10am
Join other singers and learn Carl Orff’s famous choral work Carmina Burana from scratch. This all-day event is for enthusiastic singers of all ages and abilities. Led by Director of Music, Aric Prentice, you will learn one of the most recognised pieces of choral music from film and TV.
The event will begin at 10am, finishing with a performance for family and friends at 3pm. Registration is required. Please contact the Assistant Organist on 01522 504398 or assistantorganist@lincolncathedral.com.
Magna Carta Lecture
Thursday 27 June, 7pm
Rights and Freedom Today by Shami Chakrabarti
Shami Chakrabarti is the Shadow Attorney General and a member of the House of Lords. A lawyer, she is Honorary Professor of Law at the University of Manchester, Honorary Fellow of Mansfield College, Oxford and a Master of the Bench of Middle Temple. She was previously Chancellor of both Oxford Brookes University and then the University of Essex.
Baroness Chakrabarti was Director of Liberty, the National Council for Civil Liberties from 2003 to 2016. Shami’s first book, On Liberty, is published by Penguin. Her second, Of Women, was published on 26 October 2017.
Oliver! Tickets
There are still tickets available for the production of Oliver! If you are struggling to find enough seats for your group online at lincolncathedral.com, please call 01522 561658 and we can look for suitable spaces.
The show takes place in the Cathedral from Monday 5 to Friday 16 August 2019 (excluding Sunday 11 August).
Tickets
Tickets for all events are available on the Cathedral website – www.lincolncathedral.com
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Bible Readings
Sunday 12 May
Fourth Sunday of Easter
Sung Eucharist
Acts 9: 36-end
Revelation 7: 9-end
Mattins
1 Kings 17: 17-end
Luke 7: 11-23
Evensong
Isaiah 63: 7-14
Luke 24: 36-49
Sunday 19 May
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Sung Eucharist
Acts 11: 1-18
Revelation 21: 1-6
John 13: 31 -35
Mattins
2 Samuel 7: 4-13
Acts 2: 14a, 22-32
Evensong
Daniel 6: 6-23
Mark 15: 46 – 16.8
Sunday 26 May
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Sung Eucharist
Acts 16: 9-15
Revelation 21: 10, 22-22.5
John 14: 23-29
Mattins
Genesis 1: 26-28
Colossians 3: 1-11
Evensong
Zephaniah 3: 14-end
Matthew 28: 1-10, 16-end
