Rising to the challenge

As I look from the window of my office in Minster Yard, I look over the North Green and what will soon be the Old Deanery Visitors’ Centre. William Birch, our main contractor for Lincoln Cathedral Connected, is beginning to finalise the work that still needs to be done: turf is being laid and plants bedded down; path surfaces finished; systems commissioned; carpets fitted. Within a short moment of time the contractor will leave, the site will be ours again and we shall have wonderful new facilities to provide hospitality to those who come to worship and learn and visit.

For those of us who have been managing this Project for the past eight years it’s the culmination of a great deal of hard work, work that has not been without its moments of anxiety and worry, challenges that have had to be overcome.

COVID-19 brings yet another challenge for the project – not least, when shall we be able to open? – and for each and every one of us across this city, our country and the world. How people and nations respond at this time will characterise them for the foreseeable future. Our actions, deeds and words now will rightly define how people view us going forward. How we are understood as the Church of England is being re-formed as this crisis continues to unfold: shall we be seen as a church that has a sense of vision and purpose, seeking to carry out God’s mission to our country? Or a church that has abandoned the public sphere to glimpse somewhat timidly out of the kitchen window?

I hope and pray that we at Lincoln Cathedral have together and by God’s grace created something that will allow us to serve our local community and its needs after this terrible virus has left our shores. We are presently looking at revising the project’s Activity Plan to see how best we can work with those in need, answer the cry of the disadvantaged and speak words of comfort into broken lives. There are those who say that God has brought this “plague” in order that we may turn to Him again. No. But, I do believe that God is present in the darkest of places and He speaks into that darkness bringing light and hope and healing and His eternal peace. With Connected He has given us the tools to do just that as we walk into His future.

JOHN PATRICK, SUBDEAN

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Worship & Mission

Holy Communion
Our online worship this Sunday will be Holy Communion. It will be online from 10am.

You will find it on Lincoln Cathedral home worship resources
or our Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/Lincoln.Cathedral

Sacred Space
Sacred Space for May has now been added and this month’s theme is Doubt and Wonder. You will find a reflection, poems and interactive resources to help you create your own sacred space in your home.

Ascension day
Thursday 21 May is Ascension Day and we will be posting a special service of Holy Communion online from 10am in the morning. Once again it will feature some beautiful music from our choral scholars.

Forthcoming services
In the coming weeks we will have more services available:
Sunday 24 May – Choral Mattins
Sunday 31 May, Pentecost – Holy Communion

Community

Collection plates and donations
Your donations sustain the life, building, music and mission of Lincoln Cathedral. If you would like to continue to support the Cathedral during lockdown, you can find a range of different ways to contribute.



The Reverend Canon Sal McDougall
The Reverend Canon Sal McDougall leaves the Cathedral this month after three years as Precentor of Lincoln. During this time Sal has built upon the well-loved Lincoln Choral tradition whilst also having the courage and expertise to experiment with new types of worship and music, seen, for example, in the monthly Sacred Space services.

Sal’s ministry in the Cathedral has been marked by hard work, commitment to quality and a fervent desire to offer the very best in worship to Almighty God. Sal’s teaching, preaching and administrative skills have also blessed us, as has the generous hospitality offered at The Precentory.

Personally, I am saying goodbye to a friend who – particularly during the last twelve months – has been a valued, supportive and loyal colleague, who has worked tirelessly, often under difficult circumstances, to deliver the very best in worship, music and praise.

Under the present state of affairs, it is not possible to gather together and to say thank you and goodbye in a fitting manner as a cathedral community; I hope and pray that we shall find some way to do so in the not too distant future.

In the meantime, we wish Sal – and husband Griff – all the very best as they say farewell to Lincoln and Lincolnshire. May God continue to bless Sal in all that she does as she has blest so many of us during her time in Lincoln.

John Patrick, Subdean of Lincoln

Pastoral care
If you would like support, or just a chat with a friendly voice, please do contact either the Subdean, the Dean’s Verger or the Assistant Curate. We also encourage you to continue to check on the welfare of friends, neighbours and relatives.
John Patrick 07956 566101 subdean@lincolncathedral.com
John Campbell 07733 276335 deansverger@lincolncathedral.com

The Mind website also has some excellent resources to help you manage your wellbeing
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/coronavirus/coronavirus-and-your-wellbeing/

Virtual tour
If you are missing being inside the Cathedral, you are not alone. To help us continue to enjoy the building, even while we cannot visit, some of the volunteer guides have put together short pieces of information about different areas in the Cathedral. These are now being posted daily on our Facebook page to create a ‘virtual tour’. Visit https://www.facebook.com/Lincoln.Cathedral

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Bible Readings

Sunday 17 May
Sixth Sunday of Easter

Eucharist
Acts 17: 22-31
1 Peter 3: 13-end
John 14: 15-21

Mattins
Job 14: 1-2, 7-15 and 19: 23-27a
1 Thessalonians 4: 13-end

Evening Prayer
Zechariah 8: 1-13
Revelation 21: 22-22.5

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Sunday 24 May
Seventh Sunday of Easter

Eucharist
Acts 1: 6-14
1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11
John 17:1-11

Mattins
Isaiah 65:17-end
Revelation 21: 1-8

Evening Prayer
Zechariah 8: 1-13
Revelation 21: 22-22.5

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Sunday 31 May
Pentecost

Eucharist
Acts 2: 1-21
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
John 20:19-23

Mattins
Genesis 11: 1-9
Acts 10: 34-48

Evening Prayer
Joel 2: 21-end
Acts 2:14-21