Posted on by David Steers

Sunday Worship Banbridge, 26th July

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Our service today comes from First Presbyterian (NS) Church, Banbridge. The reading is given by Sam Agnew (Mark ch. 4 v.21-34) and John Strain is the organist, playing the organ at Ballee Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church. The hymns are O worship the King, all glorious above (Hymns of Faith and Freedom 21) and God speaks to us in bird and song (Hymns of Faith and Freedom 66).

 

I see an angel waiting to be released

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Michelangelo, the famous Renaissance sculptor, was once encountered chipping away at a large, shapeless block of marble. “What do you see?” someone asked him. Michelangelo replied simply “I see an angel waiting to be released”. (Picture: Ullet Road Church, Liverpool).

 

Click on the above video to see Time for a Story: Neverland which tells the story of a famous statue in Liverpool’s Sefton Park which stands alongside the Palm House there. The video is filmed nearby in the outstanding building of Ullet Road Unitarian Church designed by Thomas and Percy Worthington at the end of the nineteenth and start of the twentieth centuries. The video also features some of the wildlife in the park as well as animation by InkLightning.

Below are some of images taken at the time in the church and in the park that relate to the video.

Sefton Park:

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Ullet Road Church:

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Posted on by David Steers

Service from Hope Street, Liverpool, Sunday 19th July 2020

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This Sunday’s service was filmed on location in Liverpool. It is a praise service, intended also to show our appreciation of all those who contribute music to our services during the lockdown.  In the video we visit Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral, the Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral, the site of the Hope Street Unitarian Church – which are all located on Hope Street – and travel out to the Ancient Chapel of Toxteth, originally built in 1618.

The reading is Psalm 98 and is read by Rosemary Neill of Downpatrick. The organists are: Laura Patterson, Downpatrick; John Strain, Ballee; and Alfie McClelland, Clough.

The hymns sung are:

Onward Christian Soldiers (Mission Praise, 543)

Father Hear the Prayer we Offer (Hymns of Faith and Freedom, 299)

And can it be (Mission Praise, 33)

City of God, how broad and far (Hymns of Faith and Freedom, 299)

Breathe on me, breath of God (Hymns of Faith and Freedom, 177)

All the places visited in the video have been mentioned one way or another on this blog and the following links will give more information about them:

Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, designer of the Anglican Cathedral and iconic telephone kiosks

Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral under Construction

Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral

The Church on Hope Street

The Ancient Chapel of Toxteth

The 400th anniversary of the Ancient Chapel of Toxteth

Ancient Chapel: then and now

 

 

Also uploaded this week – Time for a Story: The Promise

The story of St Dunstan, 10th-century Abbot of Glastonbury (the ruins of which Abbey can be seen above), Archbishop of Canterbury and the person who devised the Coronation Service still used by British monarchs today. Filmed at Downpatrick with pictures from the British Museum and animation by InkLightning.
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Special Offer from Dunmurry – Rev Mac Floral Designs

A Celtic Way was printed in 2007, by Very Rev William McMillan. The 96 page hard back book contains a wide range of colour images of Rev Mac’s floral arrangements, garden and travels.

Dunmurry congregation have copies of this book to give away. If you would like one, please email: firstdunmurrynsp@gmail.com

Copies can be collected from The Manse, Dunmurry by prior arrangement. If you would like a copy posted, please request bank transfer details. P&P is £4 (UK only).

Posted on by David Steers

Sunday Worship Downpatrick, 12th July

Today’s service is from Downpatrick and deals with the gospel story of Jesus – and Peter – walking on water. What is the meaning of this for faith in our day and age? After the feeding of the five thousand Jesus goes up a mountain to pray while the disciples go out on the lake in a boat. Threatened by a sudden storm Jesus comes out to save them, although at first they are more alarmed by this than anything else. We look at the way God interacted with humanity through water in the Old Testament. The hymns are played by Downpatrick organist Laura Patterson.

Time for a Story: Imagination deals with one of the most famous literary figures of the nineteenth century. Born in Cheshire in 1832 he spent his working life as a Mathematics don in Oxford. Generally known by his pseudonym his creations have a enjoyed a place in the popular imagination ever since.

 

 

Posted on by David Steers

Sunday Worship from Clough, 5th July

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This Sunday our service comes from Clough. The theme is inspired by Thomas Carlyle’s remark that ‘Wonder is the basis of worship’. In this light we explore the place of singing in our worship (‘O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands hath made’). Dr Anna Ferguson reads Psalm 96 and Alfie McClelland plays the hymns: City of God, how broad and far and Love divine, all loves excelling.

This week’s Time for a Story has the theme of Diligence and tells the story, from India, of Janaka. It can be viewed here: