Ish’s Scrapbook

Its been 21 years since we came to Chichester Cathedral – here’s an extract from ‘Our Cancer Journey’ pages 35 – 39:  

But it was around this time (2002) Ish was getting restless with local church. He felt stale and knew it was time to start looking for something different. We had only really experienced one style of service and one style of worship music throughout our entire Christian lives. As part of my degree course, I had to undertake a core module titled ‘Christian Spirituality’ and it required a written research paper on a different kind of church tradition than I was used to. I decided to research sacramental worship in the Anglican tradition since the Cathedral was about a ten-minute walk from where we lived. It was during this research project that I discovered a style of worship I had never really experienced before. Armed with a notebook and pen, I sat at the back of the Cathedral and observed a Sunday morning Eucharist and joined in the liturgical responses according to the order of service booklet. Cathedral services are conducted with a great deal of solemnity, dignity, grace, eloquence, and reverence. I loved the freshness that came with the silence, the ritual, the stillness, the mystery, and the classical music sung during the service – a new experience for me. There is something about entering the building, where people have worshipped for over nine hundred years, that simply envelops you in the presence of God. A few weeks later I dragged Ish along to a Cathedral Eucharist and to both his surprise and mine he actually liked it!

Our Cancer Journey Book Cover: We have had so many lovely comments about our book cover I thought I would add some explanation about it. Ish and I are standing on a hill nr Chichester called ‘The Trundle’ it is part of the South Downs National Park and known for an Iron Age fort built on that site. It is also called St Roche’s Hill after the French medieval Saint Roche (meaning ‘Rock’) who was known for healing and pilgrimage amongst other things. A chapel was built on the site dedicated to him but was thought to be destroyed during the Reformation. His patronal day is 16 August and an ecumenical healing service is conducted on the Trundle every year on that date. There is a circular path that we walk round the hill and is a great vantage point where you can see along to Worthing to the east and Portsmouth to the west and right out to the English Channel on a clear day. When you sit on the hill all you can hear is birdsong, it is a very peaceful place, where we have often walked and prayed. On the day our son Dan took this photo, the field belonging to the Goodwood Estate, was filled with poppies. We thought this was symbolic for us having lost many members of our family. We are also looking towards Chichester Cathedral our spiritual home, where we both serve as deacons. The picture sums up much about our lives and is very special to u