Weekly Record

24 January 2010

Over this last week we have witnessed on TV the unfolding tragedy following the earthquake in Haiti. Even now aid and assistance has not reached some of the worst hit and most needy situations and things seem rather chaotic on the ground. The Daughters of Charity, the religious congregation to which our community of sisters at the Cathedral belong, have a few communities on the Island of Haiti. One of their number  Sister Brigitte Pierre died in the earthquake. Sisters with nursing qualifications from a number of provinces have travelled to Haiti to work alongside the communities there to help in any way they can. We will have a retiring collection this Sunday for the people of Haiti. We intend to send it through our sisters to the religious working on the Island to make sure that the money is used to help where it is most needed.

The Times this week had a full page article on sermons and preaching. It was a result of findings by researchers at Durham University. Apparently 96.6% of churchgoers look forward to the sermon! A fact I found hard to believe. But much more believable was that Catholics want a sermon to finish within 10 minutes whereas Baptists expect it to last over an hour. That Catholics were most keen on sermons that educated rather than challenged them whereas Anglicans would put up with 20 minutes as long as there was no waffle and expected to be entertained as well as challenged. The article referred to some of the great preachers of past and present who could change lives and hearts and the bumbling and incompetent the most famous of whom was the Rev WA Spooner from whom the term spoonerism derived; one of his most famous gaffes was to refer to Our Lord as a ‘shoving leopard’ (loving shepherd). Anyway the conclusion of all the research was that, despite our high tech living, the traditional well prepared sermon is as relevant now as it has been in the past. Which made me stop and think and feel a bit guilty- more preparation required!

This Sunday afternoon there will be no Choral Evening Prayer at our Cathedral as we will be holding a Joint Choral Service at Liverpool Cathedral at 3pm for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

‘Lord pour out upon us the gift of your mercy and by the power of your Spirit remove divisions among Christians. We are all consecrated to you by our common Baptism; make us one in the fullness of faith and keep us one in the fellowship of love. Let your church rise more clearly as a sign for all nations that the world may be filled with the light of  your Spirit and believe in Jesus Christ whom you have sent.’

Canon Anthony O’Brien
Dean of the Cathedral