This badge was made in response to a speech in the General Synod of the Church of England by the Rev Simon Butler in February 2017. That speech can be read online here:
https://www.stmarysbattersea.org.uk/article/general-synod-and-human-sexuality/
The quote is from the 32nd chapter of the book of Genesis and in its original context is uttered by Jacob who is pictured wrestling with God. In the synod speech it was used to suggest that LGBT people remain part of the church despite the negative way that they have sometimes been treated. This badge represents a desire to be blessed rather than cursed – a key theme found in the bible.
LGBT History Month – Some Christians Are Gay. Get Over It!
For LGBT History Month – February 2021, St Mary’s is curating an online exhibition of LGBT badges which have at one time or another been on sale on our badge stall in church. The first one dates from 2016. It cheekily takes its look and feel from the Stonewall posters of the time which asserted – “Some people are gay. Get over it!”
Check back regularly for more badges.
Online Worship – 31/1/2021
Worship for Sunday 31 January 2021 takes place online. This consists this week of:
- A video that forms a service of Holy Communion
- A hymn (‘We cannot measure how you heal’)
- A video for members of the Young Church and their households
The Provost leads this service from the Cathedral. Sister Helena is the preacher and the Vice Provost is the deacon. Bruce Montgomery-Smith leads some of the prayers, Debbie Lewer leads the Intercessions, and Stewart Macfarlane reads the Gospel. Morven Bremner sings the mass setting (the Lincoln Communion setting by Malcolm Archer) with Frikki Walker, organ. The music at Communion, is Litany to the Holy Spirit by Peter Huford and is sung by Justine Inns. Steven McIntyre plays the voluntary at the end of this service, Prelude in A major (BWV 536) – JS Bach – recorded at Dunblane Cathedral.
The video of the service of Holy Communion is also available on Facebook and YouTube. (The YouTube video might suit those who prefer to watch on a smart TV.)
Download a PDF transcript of the service here:
Online Worship – 31 January 2021
Holy Communion
If you would like to make a financial contribution to enable this ministry, please do so.
To give to St Mary’s directly from your bank account, please set up payments to the Clydesdale Bank, sort code 82-20-00 account number 30185232, account name “Cathedral Church of St Mary the Virgin”.
To set up a standing order, please fill in a Bank Standing Order and send it to your bank. If you are a UK tax payer, please also fill in a Gift Aid Declaration as it enables the Cathedral to claim back the tax that you have already paid on the money that you are giving.
You can give by PayPal directly through this website by going to the Paypal Giving Page.
If it is possible for you to do so, please use a form of payment directly to the Cathedral bank account in order to avoid payment fees on PayPal.
If you would like details of how to give by other methods, please contact the Cathedral Office to be put in touch with the Gift Aid Recorder, Alan McCulloch.
Thank you for your offering. If you usually put cash on the plate, please, if you can, find a way of giving electronically at this time to enable the ministry of the Cathedral to continue.
Hymn – ‘We cannot measure how you heal’
Sung by the Cathedral Choir, conducted by Frikki Walker, with Rona Macleod – oboe and Geoff Woollatt – organ
Young Church Song
Next week, on 7 February the Young Church will meet on Zoom from 10:30 to 11:00 am. Christine Walker leads the third of four sessions on making a samba band at home with everyday kitchen items. This week also features the story of Jonah … but with a twist—a musical setting with LEGO. Any members of the congregation are welcome to join and share Zoom details with young people no matter where they are.
Young persons must be accompanied by an adult, who must remain online at all times. Join the meeting from a public room in the house (no bedrooms, please) and get ready to samba.
Young Church Zoom Dates and Details
7 February, 21 February
10:30 – 11:00 am
Meeting ID: 860 5486 4041
Passcode: 005922
Welcome card and feedback
If you are finding a way into this congregation and would like to make contact, please use the Welcome Card which can be found online here:
https://thecathedral.org.uk/welcome-card/
If you would like to contact the Provost and the Vice Provost to give feedback on this worship or for any other reason, please use the following form.
Please select a valid form.
If you wish to join the cathedral electronic mailing list to receive futher details about the online worship please do so at this sign-up page:
http://phplist.thecathedral.org.uk/?p=subscribe&id=3
Please share this page and these resources widely on social media and in any other ways you can think of.
Sermon preached on 17 January 2021 by Oliver Brewer-Lennon
Sermon preached on 10 January 2021 by John Riches
Sermon preached at Epiphany 2021 by Bishop Kevin
Sermon preached by Bishop Kevin for Midnight Mass 2020
Online Worship for Christmas 2020
The online service for Christmas can be found in several videos
- Three videos that form a service of Holy Communion
- A hymn O Come All Ye Faithful
- A video for members of the Young Church and their households
Some may choose to watch this service as a midnight mass. Others will want to watch it on Christmas Day.
The three videos are also available in a single video and that video is available on Facebook and Youtube. The Youtube video might suit those who prefer to watch on a smart TV. (The Provost and Vice Provost would like feedback on whether this is useful).
The service is led by the Vice Provost, the Rev Canon Oliver Brewer-Lennon and the sermon is preached by the Provost, the Very Rev Kelvin Holdsworth. The service includes readings and prayers from the Rev Canon Audrey O’Brien Stewart, Pat Bennett and Franny Mawditt. Music comes from cathedral musicians including Frikki Walker, Steven McIntyre, Magnus Walker and St Mary’s Cathedral Choir.
Download a PDF transcript of the service here:
20201225 Christmas Online Worship
The Gathering
The Word
If you would like to make a financial contribution to enable this ministry, please do so.
To give to St Mary’s directly from your bank account, please set up payments to the Clydesdale Bank, sort code 82-20-00 account number 30185232, account name “Cathedral Church of St Mary the Virgin”.
To set up a standing order, please fill in a Bank Standing Order and send it to your bank. If you are a UK tax payer, please also fill in a Gift Aid Declaration as it enables the Cathedral to claim back the tax that you have already paid on the money that you are giving.
You can give by PayPal directly through this website by going to the Paypal Giving Page.
If it is possible for you to do so, please use a form of payment directly to the Cathedral bank account in order to avoid payment fees on PayPal.
If you would like details of how to give by other methods, please contact the Cathedral Office to be put in touch with the Gift Aid Recorder, Alan McCulloch.
Thank you for your offering. If you usually put cash on the plate, please, if you can, find a way of giving electronically at this time to enable the ministry of the Cathedral to continue.
Communion
The Christmas Service in One Video
Carol – O Come All Ye Faithful
Young Church
The following video has been prepared for members of the Young Church by Christine Walker.
Welcome card and feedback
If you are finding a way into this congregation and would like to make contact, please use the Welcome Card which can be found online here:
https://thecathedral.org.uk/welcome-card/
If you would like to contact the Provost and the Vice Provost to give feedback on this worship or for any other reason, please use the following form.
Please select a valid form.
If you wish to join the cathedral electronic mailing list to receive futher details about the online worship please do so at this sign-up page:
http://phplist.thecathedral.org.uk/?p=subscribe&id=3
Please share this page and these resources widely on social media and in any other ways you can think of.
Statement about Corona Threat
Usually, Christmas is a busy time at St Mary’s. Our footfall in the building in a normal year is about 1000 people over the 24 hours from noon on Christmas Eve until noon on Christmas Day. There tends to be people there from all over the world and all over the country, joining with those who worship here week by week.
It was always the case that this year was going to be different but it was still our expectation that over a number of services over the next week that several hundred people would be able to engage in worship within the cathedral building.
This evening the First Minister gave a clear announcement indicating the very strong concern that the Scottish Government is feeling about the Corona Virus situation. Most of the country is to enter Level Four restrictions by the end of the week. The First Minister has asked people not to gather in large groups and to remain at home.
Immediately following the First Minister’s Press Conference the Leadership Group of St Mary’s requested that opinions be sought from the Medical Panel that has been giving advice about the Corona situation throughout the year. Most of them could be contacted and all felt that in-person worship should be suspended with immediate effect. Having received that advice, the Leadership Group have taken the decision that there will be no worship in the Cathedral building from now until such time as the corona threat level is lower.
If we were a small local congregation comprised of people who live very locally a different decision might have been taken to the decision that has been made. However, we are a larger congregation made up from a very mobile group of people. It is the case that some of those who had booked in for the service on 20 December 2020 do not normally live in Glasgow and the numbers of people from outside the city wanting to book for services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day would have been higher even than for services on 20 December 2020. This has been one of the factors that has been considered when deciding what to do at St Mary’s over the next few days.
St Mary’s is not closed and Christmas is not cancelled. We will continue to worship online as we have done for much of the year. We will continue to express our care for one another and use whatever means are at our disposal to communicate that care near and far.
This year many of us will be feeling bruised and hurt by all that has happened. The love of God is for just such as us and we will go on proclaiming that same love to all the world. Once more, we find that the best way to proclaim that love is by taking our own local steps to reduce opportunities for the virus to spread.
The essence of the Christmas message is that God came into the world to tells us all that we are loved. That message remains utterly unchanged.
Issued by the Leadership Group – 19 December 2020
The Very Rev Kelvin Holdsworth – Provost
The Rev Canon Oliver Brewer-Lennon – Vice Provost
Franny Mawditt – People’s Warden
Jim McKillop – Provost’s Warden
First Time?
If you have not been to St Mary’s before – don’t worry; it is easier than you think. [Read more…]