It is deeply frustrating that the church needs to remain closed for public worship at the moment and that it is not possible to mark the journey of Lent together. There is a huge selection of online and print resources available for all sorts of tastes and interests, and as an example for several I … Continue reading Lent is here
The Beauty of Holiness – Part 2
The South Transept – the Lady Chapel St Andrew's has changed considerably over the past 160 years and all old buildings suffer from contradictory temptations of their users: to throw things out which are special because fashion changes, and to fill spaces with not very desirable items (well, clutter). I keep discovering interesting things (and … Continue reading The Beauty of Holiness – Part 2
The Beauty of Holiness – Part 1
Something I am very keen on is the missional quality of Beauty. Beauty is attractive and speaks of God, as God is beautiful. St Andrew's is a wonderful building with many beautiful things, which need looking after in order to speak loudly about God. Even if a sense of beauty is highly individual and a … Continue reading The Beauty of Holiness – Part 1
We love the place, O God…
Over the last few weeks lots of things happened around St Andrew's Church - one advantage of the closure of the church and the lockdown we are all under is that there is time and space to care for our building and make it even more welcoming, helpful to worship and awe-inspiring. You may have … Continue reading We love the place, O God…
Nave Floor partly refurbished
As the church has to be temporarily closed to the public following a request by the City Mayor, the Director of Public Health and an encouragement by our Bishop to do so, you will not be able to see what has happened in the last few days. Following the removal of the somewhat darkened carpet … Continue reading Nave Floor partly refurbished
Temporary Church Closure from Wednesday 20th January
Both the City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby and the Director of Public Health Prof. Ivan Browne have written to religion & belief communities in Leicester and Leicestershire and asked them to voluntary pause all public worship and other face to face activities (see text below). This is not a legal requirement as in previous lockdowns … Continue reading Temporary Church Closure from Wednesday 20th January
Christmas Decorations
In our parish, we keep our Crib and some of the decorations up until the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Candlemas on 2 February. We thus follow the medieval custom, not the Victorian custom of twelve nights and definitely not the modern secular custom of a Boxing Day clear out. Christmas in mediaeval … Continue reading Christmas Decorations
Prayer for the Blessing of Houses
It is traditional to recall the coming of the Magi by the 'chalking' of houses, asking for God's blessing for the coming year. Before the announcement of the 3rd National Lockdown I was planning to visit those who were happy for me to do so, but under present circumstances this is not possible to justify. … Continue reading Prayer for the Blessing of Houses
3rd National Lockdown
You may have heard the Prime Minister's announcement yesterday evening, Monday 4th January 2021, during which Her Majesty’s Government has instructed us, once again, to ‘stay at home’ unless we have a reasonable excuse to leave our homes. However, it seems from information published on the Government’s website after the Ministerial Broadcast that places of … Continue reading 3rd National Lockdown
Leicester in Tier 4
Following the governments decision to put Leicester in Tier 4 I revised the risk assessment for St Andrew's. We are still able to worship in the same way as in Tier 3 (socially distanced, no hospitality, no congregational singing, communion in one kind etc) but I think it is important to take even greater care … Continue reading Leicester in Tier 4
