It is the season of Harvest Suppers and Harvest Thanksgiving Services. In Lincolnshire we are well aware of nature that surrounds us, and the cycle of the seasons.
Although less people work on the land than even a few years ago, we are well aware of the demands and the realities of the countryside that surrounds us. And even though crops are harvested throughout the year, and not just at the end of the summer, the celebration of harvest connects us with a genuine truth.
There is the temptation to sentimentalise rural life – especially for those who have never worked on the land, never lived in a rural environment. In many towns and cities, harvest thanksgiving often becomes the occasion for a bit of nostalgia about a rural way of life that never really existed.
But you don’t have to live long in this county to be touched by the realities of rural living, for Lincolnshire is dominated by the land and by farming. So, harvest touches a deep chord in this place. Here it is easy, under the vast skies, with the horizon extending to infinity, to experience the truth that the earth is the Lord’s and all that therein is; to feel the grandeur of God’s sustaining presence in creation and to know that everything depends upon him.
So, harvest is here, in a way that it is not in much of the rest of the country, a genuine expression of truths about our experience. It is a time for celebration – that God in his mercy gives, ever gives, to his creation and to his people – and so it is a time for thankfulness.
But it is also a time to recollect the realities of rural life – of farmers and those who work on the land in genuine need, with little return for hard work and financial outlay, and an increasingly stressful and anxious workload. Therefore, we also remember at this time God’s call for Justice: Justice in our local communities and Justice in world trade. Christians are called to transform by love, with the grace of God, the world that he has given us to live in.
John Patrick, Subdean
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Worship & Mission
A Time to Remember
Sunday 13 October, 2pm
As part of Baby Loss Awareness Week, Lincoln Cathedral will hold ‘A Time to Remember’; a service for all those who have lost a child before birth or in infancy. The service will take place at 2pm and we welcome people of all faiths or none to join us.
Sacred Space
Once a month on a Sunday at 6.45pm
This popular service is gentle and reflective with time to wonder and explore, encouraging everyone to use all their senses; it offers a different way to experience worship at Lincoln Cathedral.
Dates and themes for the coming months are:
October 27 – Saints and Sinners
November 24 – Kingdom
December 15 – Light in the Darkness
Stillpoint
Saturday 9 November, 9am-9.45am
Led by Revd Ann Mazur, this is a time of guided silent prayer to be still and aware of the presence of God.
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Community
Victoria and Albert: Treasures of a Royal Marriage
Following Tristram Hunt’s lecture in the Cathedral, we would encourage you to visit the exhibition ‘Victoria and Albert – Treasures of a Royal Marriage’, which is open daily in the Collection and the Usher Gallery until 5 January. It features some of the earliest treasures to be given to the V&A Museum.
From Janet Miles
“I feel quite overwhelmed by the care the community is showing me and I know it is encouraging me to make good progress. We should all be properly proud of the community’s value to the worship and care of our beloved Cathedral which is often commented upon by visitors. I last read a lesson on “Vanity”. Any vanity I had was wiped out by the thought of an 80 year old lying in a heap on the South Transept floor!”
All Souls
The Flower Team would be grateful for any donations towards white carnations for the Altar flowers at All Souls. Please talk to Micky Philp if you need any more information.
Lincoln Cathedral Community Association
LCCA AGM – thank you to all those who attended the LCCA AGM. The following people were elected onto the Executive Committee for the first time or re-elected for their second three-year term. Mr John McNeill was elected for a one-year term as Lay Vice Chair of LCCA and Chair of Executive Committee; Miss Marie Crooks and Mr Richard Mazur were elected onto the Executive Committee for their 1st term of three years; Mrs Prue Chadderton and Mr David Ford were re-elected for their 2nd term of three years.
The Members of Executive Committee are as follows – Revd Canon John Patrick; Mr John McNeill; Mrs Margaret Campion; Mrs Prue Chadderton; Miss Marie Crooks; Mr David Ford; Mrs Elaine Johnson; Mr Richard Mazur; Mrs June Pallister; Mr John Proud.
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Events
Afternoon Concert
Saturday 12 October, 3pm
Sheffield Chorale are performing an afternoon concert in the Chapter House of Lincoln Cathedral.
They will sing John Rutter’s Requiem as the main item of the concert. They will open the concert with Stanford’s Coelos Ascendit Hodie and close with I am a small part of the World by Albrecht and Althouse. The programme is expected to run for around 45 minutes.
Lunchtime Concert
Saturday 19 October, 1pm
Students from Lincoln University will be playing under the direction of Mark Wilde and Ed Wellman. Entrance to the Concert is free but there will be a retiring collection in aid of Murdered Abroad (Registered Charity No 1111724), a charity which supports the families and friends of victims of murder and manslaughter abroad.
The Big Draw
19-27 October
Join us in the inspiration surroundings of Lincoln Cathedral for the Big Draw Festival 2019. No skills are needed, just take in the peaceful environment, ponder over the people who built and continue to conserve the magnificent building, then pick up paper and set your creative spirit free! Artist Kirsty Dring will be offering drawing tips on Monday 21st October from 10am to 12pm. The event is free of charge; normal Cathedral admission charges apply.
Handel’s Messiah
Saturday 23 November
We welcome you once again to our popular annual performance of Handel’s Messiah performed by the Choir of Lincoln Cathedral and the Lincolnshire Chamber Orchestra, conducted by our Director of Music, Aric Prentice.
Tickets will be available soon.
A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten
Saturday 14 December 2pm and 7pm
Performed by the Lincoln Cathedral Choristers and harpist Louise Thomson
Join us on for two performances of this classic, festive favourite, in the stunning Cathedral Chapter House.
Prices:
2pm performance £11, £5 for children under 14
7pm performance £27 including wine, canapés and a lantern-light tour of the Cathedral.
Tickets will be on sale soon, available from www.lincolncathedral.com, by calling 01522 561658 or from the Cathedral Shop.
Organ Concert – La Nativité du Seigneur
Come and experience Jeffrey Makinson in concert on the grand Father Willis organ in Lincoln Cathedral.
Olivier Messiaen’s 1935 masterpiece is considered to be one of the greatest Organ compositions of all time. La Nativité du Seigneur is a Christmas tradition at Lincoln Cathedral and one not to be missed.
Wallace and Gromit In Concert; The Wrong Trousers
Saturday 4 January
Audiences will be treated to five showings of the film on a big screen in the Nave, and the 30-piece chamber orchestra will bring the soundtrack to life in spectacular fashion.
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Bible Readings
Sunday 13 October
Seveneenth Sunday after Trinity
Sung Eucharist
2 Kings 5: 1-3, 7-15c
2 Timothy 2: 8-15
Luke 17: 11-19
Mattins
Isaiah 50: 4-10
Luke 13: 22-30
Evensong
Nehemiah 6: 1-16
John 15: 12-end
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Sunday 20 October
Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity
Sung Eucharist
Genesis 32: 22-31
2 Timothy 3: 14-4:5
Luke 18: 1-8
Mattins
Isaiah 54: 1-14
Luke 13: 31-end
Evensong
Nehemiah 8: 9-end
John 16: 1-11
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Sunday 27 October
Last Sunday after Trinity
Sung Eucharist
Ecclesiasticus 35: 12-17
Jeremiah 14: 7-10, 19-end
Luke 18: 9-14
Mattins
Isaiah 59: 9-20
Luke 14: 1-14
Evensong
Ecclesiastes 11, 12
2 Timothy 2: 1-7
