07 October 2020

Rev. Irene writes:

I was fortunate enough to spend last week on a canal boat sauntering along the Leeds/Liverpool canal. A canal boat is one way of really noticing the wildlife and countryside in all its glory especially as the leaves were just beginning to turn to those wonderful orange and reds of autumn. Life moves at such a slow pace and you feel you are miles from anywhere, when in fact, the canal runs alongside many busy roads and through towns and villages.

Back in Hull life continues to grow at pace. It was great to have our first Evensong since the beginning of the year on Saturday and on Sunday we welcomed our young choristers for the first time since the reopening of the Minster. Please pray for our young people and for baby Sebastian who was baptised on Saturday last week.

Rebecca Barber and Sarah Magaharan led our contemporary contribution to the Sunday service, and I remembered how they too had been part of the junior choir not so many years ago. Since then they have done university and are back in Hull and back to worship with us at the Minster. How encouraging! Perhaps I can get them to contribute to Lifeline in the next few weeks to update us on their journeys of life!

This week Katie Ogilvie has offered to update us on life in the Ogilvie home and family which includes rather a larger number of alpacas!

Katie writes:

At the beginning March, I was busy working two days a week at South Hunsley High School and two days at Withernsea High School, but as lockdown happened, the shielding instructions arrived, and very quickly I was instructed to work from home. I have always tried not to let my health issues get in the way of living a full, useful life – but the last six months have made that exceedingly difficult!

I have an auto immune eye condition that requires a strong dose of immune suppressants to keep it in remission, but that also means that my immune system is compromised. To complicate matters, I have lymphoedema in my right arm, a complication from a breast cancer diagnosis 12 years ago. Any infection I get may lead to cellulitis and septicaemia – so I need to be careful! As anyone who has any chronic conditions knows, you don’t appreciate your good health until you lose it – and then it becomes very frustrating when it means you can’t do everything you want to do.

Taking on the organisation and editing of the hymns for our online services gave me a purpose, and a sense of being some use. And I really enjoy doing it: collating voices, blending sounds, and encouraging people to sing, even when they did not like the sound of their own voice. I love seeing people working together to produce something special, something that they would not necessarily be able to produce on their own. It also meant that the choir could unite during lockdown and give support to one another, and I believe, as we are now meeting together again, that we are stronger for it.

Having to shield meant that I was even supposed to avoid the people I lived with – but we managed to find ways round that! I recognise that I am extremely fortunate to live where I do, and to be surrounded by fields and open space. I have 12 alpacas, who are good company – and at least I did not have to shield from them! (ADVERT CLAXON – wool is available! www.highfield-farm.com)

Lockdown also brought extra stresses – Ruth missed out on taking her GCSEs and partying at her prom but coped well with the disappointment. Alex had an abrupt return from Glasgow in March, and then had to go to Southampton in the middle of June to board her ship. She is studying marine engineering and has a degree apprenticeship with Carnival. She was meant to be cruising round Alaska, but instead she is bobbing off the Isle of Wight. The first two weeks of her trip were spent in quarantine in a cabin – a stressful and lonely period for any 19-year-old. She disembarks in early November, having served her sea time on the Queen Victoria – and will need collecting from the south coast. It is a worrying time for all our young people as they begin careers or move to study new courses. We want them to take advantage of all the opportunities life provides, but currently those opportunities are severely curtailed. I hope that this pandemic teaches them important lessons about their own resilience and capabilities, and that in years to come, generation ‘Covid’ can reminisce about how they pulled together, showed empathy and learnt to value their health and freedom.

Getting back to some form of ‘normal’ in terms of attending the Minster for services has been a welcome tonic for us all. Restarting choir practice was nerve wracking, but it has worked well, and the airy space of the Nave has been a blessing. A recording that we made at our first rehearsal back reached 5,000 viewers, and as a result we have grown the choir with 6 new members in the last two weeks – an amazing result at a time when so much is restricted and experiences appear to be shrinking. It is awesome to consider the growth in our numbers, and the support and fellowship a group like the choir can offer its members. I was privileged to be part of the choir that sang for Sunday worship for the first time – and the spontaneous round of applause (thank you Dot!) was wonderful, and moved members of the choir and congregation to tears. Music is so vital to our experience of worship, whether we are part of creating it, or able to listen and reflect as others sing and play to us. Producing music well is an emotional journey and requires hard work. To know that it is appreciated, and enhances the worship, makes it worthwhile. Please do join us for choral evensong if you are able to – the first and third Saturday of every month, at 4pm!

Rev Irene concludes:

OPENING TIMES FOR PERSONAL PRAYER AND VISITORS

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 12:3pm.

WEDNESDAY Holy Communion at 12:30pm. Entry through the north church side door.

SATURDAY 10th October-4pm. Taizé. A reflective and prayerful service to be held on the 2nd Saturday of each month.

This Sunday there will be an online service at 10am and a live service in the Minster at 10:30am. If you would like to be in the Minster for the service at 10:30am please book a place on-line here or by telephoning the office on 01482 224460.

We are now also open for morning and evening prayer as follows:

Morning Prayer:

Monday to Friday 08:00-08:30

Saturday and Sunday 09:00-09:30

Evening Prayer:

Monday to Friday 17:00-17:30

Access to both services is through the North Door, which is opposite BE Coffee Shop.

Readings:

The Collect for this week.

Almighty and everlasting God,