Author: Leah Vasey-Saunders

Choristers at Lancaster Priory will be singing with joy as they return to the ancient church this Sunday.

Sung worship has been an important part of life at Lancaster Priory, stretching back to its origins as a Benedictine community, but the COVID-19 pandemic silenced singing for the longest time in living memory and probably not since Oliver Cromwell’s puritan days.

Although the Priory’s choirs can’t return to their full schedule yet and neither is hymn singing by the congregation allowed, small groups of singers will be raising the roof again  on Sundays from September 6 during the 10am Eucharist and 6.30pm Choral Evensong services.

And the Priory has another reason to celebrate this autumn as three members of its Girls Choir will be joining the sixth form at the elite Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester.

Ellie Blewitt, Phoebe Heywood and Bella Leong-Smith will be leaving the choir two years earlier than expected to take up this exciting opportunity.

Bella, who has been a chorister since she was eight, said: “It really helped me to build my confidence as well as my musical ability. The experiences I had were invaluable and without the Priory and the staff, I wouldn’t be the musician I am today.”

Children and young people who sing at Lancaster Priory are offered the same world class choral training found in cathedral and church choirs across the country and each year, a large number of choristers go on to study music at university or take up prestigious choral scholarships alongside their academic studies.

Priory director of music, Don Gillthorpe, said: “We wish Ellie, Phoebe and Bella all the best for the next exciting chapter in their musical development. They have all made an outstanding contribution to our worshipping community at the Priory and their voices will be sorely missed.”

Many children who begin their love of choral singing through the Boys and Girls Choirs continue singing as adults.

Mr Gillthorpe is always pleased to hear from any boys or girls in Year 4 or above who would like to be involved in the musical life of the Priory.

Young people in Year 10 and above are eligible to be considered for Junior Choral Scholarships and university students can apply for Senior Choral Scholarships which provide fully-funded weekly singing lessons with a Priory singing teacher.

Occasionally, there are also vacancies for adults in the choir, subject to a satisfactory voice test.

Anyone interested in the various choral opportunities, should email: DoM@lancasterpriory.org

Saturday 15th August live streamed from 10.55 am 

A Civic Service to commemorate VJ Day.

Thursday 13th August live streamed at 9.30 am 

Morning Prayer to remember Florence Nightingale (1820 – 13th August 1910) in her bicentenary year, and to pray for all nurses and carers.

Dear Friends

I am very pleased to be able to let you know that the Priory will be open for public worship from Sunday August 9th.

We will have to observe Government requirements as well as the guidance from the Church of England, and recognise that it will be some time before we can return to things as they were.

I am aware that many people have found the live-streaming of services to be a life-line during this challenging period, so we will continue to do this for daily Morning Prayer at 9.30, as we have been doing, for the foreseeable future.

In order to accommodate everyone who wishes to attend we will changing the pattern of Sunday services. From August there will be

08.00 am Holy Communion BCP service,
10.00 am Priory Eucharist with sermon (live streamed)
11.30 am Holy Communion (Common Worship).

There will also be the 10.15 Holy Communion (BCP) service on Tuesdays.

Services will last no more than 45 minutes and there will be no choir or congregational singing until we are advised that this is safe and possible.

For the 10.00 am and 11.30 am services pre-booking is required as numbers will be limited in order to observe 2 metres social distancing.  Bookings should be made by 6.00 pm Saturday evening.  We will try to accommodate anyone who arrives without making a booking but it may not always be possible.

In order to comply with Track and Trace requirements we will need to collect your contact details when you attend a service. To comply with data protection regulations, we will destroy this information after 21 days. However, if you develop symptoms of Covid-19 within this period, you must let us know, and all others who were present with you will be contacted and told to self-isolate for 14 days.

Booking arrangements are as follows:

Do book online if you are able to do so, using the following website:

https://www.trybooking.co.uk

If you cannot use the internet please contact us by phone on 07713 981372.– leave a message and this will be checked daily.

When you arrive at church please observe social distancing if there is a queue.  Please use the hand sanitizer which will be available and wear a mask or face covering when entering and leaving the church.  You will be shown to your seat by a sidesperson.
Orders of Service will be available on the website to download from the previous Thursday and you can follow the service on your phone or tablet.  Some service sheets will be available for you to pick up but you must take them away afterwards. Activity packs will be provided for children and these should also be taken home after the service. No books or toys will be available for children.

Please do not move around the church unless directed to do so and please ensure that children stay with their family group.  If you need to access the toilets please observe the instructions on the toilet doors regarding wiping down surfaces, taps and door handles.

For receiving Holy Communion, this will be offered in one kind only, (only the priest receiving the chalice). You will be directed to the chancel steps by the sidesperson.  We will not be using the communion rails, but the communion wafer will be placed into your hands whilst standing. Please keep a 2 metre social distance and return to your seat via the side aisle.

At the end of the service, we will invite the congregation to leave, starting with the back pews first.  We ask that you do not congregate inside the church at all. We are sorry but it will not be possible to have refreshments after the service, you can gather outside the church to greet friends if you wish.

We realise that this sounds quite daunting but I am sure we will become used to this new way of working very soon.  If you have any concerns at all, please get in touch and we will do our best to help.

Chris, Andrew, and Pauline

The Revd Canon Chris Newlands, Vicar of Lancaster,
Andrew Nicholson, Dame Pauline Fielding (Churchwardens)