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CHAIRMAN’S e BULLETIN APRIL 2016

The bronze memorial in the Ruins to the inaugural Bishop of Coventry, The Right Reverend Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs, 1918-1922

CELEBRATING THE PAST - LOOKING TO THE FUTURE Plans announced for the Diocesan Centenary in 2018

The Centenary Planning Group, led by the Dean, the Very Reverend John Witcombe, have circulated their plans for the Centenary of the Diocese and the Cathedral in 2018.

The other members of the Planning Group are: The Reverend Naomi Nixon (Diocesan Ministerial Development Adviser), The Reverend Graeme Pringle (Diocesan Communications Director) and Mrs Linda Wainscot (Diocesan Director of Education).

The Planning Group believes that the Centenary gives the Diocese the opportunity to celebrate a shared identity and should focus on ‘three emerging characteristics - renewal, reconciliation and relationships, with the emphasis being on ‘the ministry of reconciliation’.

Bishop’s Council have also agreed that ‘each of the next three years should have a particular focus’.

2016 - A Year of Making Space for God

People throughout the Diocese are encouraged to encounter God in new ways - perhaps through a pilgrimage, or a retreat.

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The Bishops have called the Diocese to a Pilgrimage of Prayer from Ascension to Pentecost - see the news item on the Pilgrimage Walk - Cloud and Fire. The Pilgrimage will also be used to launch the Centenary preparations.

2017 - A Year of Building Relationships

Next year the diocesan family is encouraged to explore and discover ways of further strengthening their relationships with one another.

Already events are being planned, including a clergy, conference, deanery development events and a retreat for head teachers - who the Bishop calls ‘Community Pastors’.

2018 - A Year for Celebration and Reconciliation

The plans and preparations will culminate in two great events during the Centenary Year.

The first, the will be an extended visit by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby.

The second, will be an Arts Festival, both in the Cathedral and across the Diocese, and spread throughout the year.

FIVE STRANDS OF PREPARATION

The days between Ascension and Pentecost have often been regarded as a time for prayer and waiting for the Holy Spirit. This year, Bishop Christopher and Bishop John are also calling Christians throughout Warwickshire and Coventry to come together for fellowship, witness and celebration. Five different strands are being woven into the period from 5th to 15th May 2016.

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1 Pilgrimage of Prayer

The bishops are calling everyone in the Diocese to pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit and to meditate on scripture. They will be providing a booklet of prayers, reflections and other resources.

2 Pilgrimage Walk - Cloud and Fire

Everyone is also encouraged to spend time walking with the bishops on a pilgrimage. There is a choice of five routes in the north, south, east, west and centre of the diocese. Further details from: www.dioceseofcoventry.org/pilgrimage2016

3 Launch of the Diocesan Centenary

The Pilgrimage of Prayer and the Pilgrimage Walk are being used to launch the Diocesan Centenary in 2018.

4 Thy Kingdom Come

5 The Pentecost Beacon

The strands of preparation will culminate in a special event at Coventry Cathedral at around 5 pm on Pentecost (15th May). This will include a live video link with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The celebration at the Cathedral will include Baptism and Confirmation, when it is anticipated other

dioceses and bishops from the West Midlands region may join, as well as other churches from the

City of Coventry.

Entry will be free. To be sure of a seat, you can book a ticket online:

http://www.coventrycathedral.org.uk/wpsite/blog/2016/02/27/your-kingdom-come/

Tickets will only guarantee a seat for arrivals before 4.30 pm.

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York are inviting the whole Church of England to join them "in a week of prayer for the evangelisation of our nation".

The Archbishops have written to every serving parish priest in the Church of England expressing their longing “to see a great wave of prayer across our land, throughout the Church of England and many other Churches” from 8th-15th May.

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EVENTS PROGRAMME 2016

Monday 4 April, 11.00 am A ‘Friendly Monday’ The Reverend Canon Dr David Stone, Precentor Saturday 16 April, 2.30 pm ‘The best of Amici’ Concert in the Cathedral, for Cathedral Parish Partners, Parish Priests, Churchwardens, and Members of the Friends followed by cream tea Tuesday 10 May, 10.30 am ‘Meeting our neighbours’: A walking tour of multi-faith places of worship in central Coventry Saturday 18 June, 9.00 am Coach Trip to Hereford Cathedral Saturday 2 July , 12 noon New Members Welcome Event (by invitation only) Saturday 16 July, 12.30 pm The Friends of Cathedral Music Regional Gathering

Saturday 24 September, 12.30 pm Lunch, AGM and Tea followed by a public Lecture

‘John Piper and the relationship Between the Artist and the Church in the 20th Century’, Professor Frances Spalding CBE FRSL

Thursday 10 November, 7.30 pm ‘The architectural legacy and cultural significance of Coventry

Cathedral at the start of a new Century’, Kelley Christ BA MA RIBA Cathedral Architect

Date still to be finalised Last week in November Visit to the House of Lords, and time in London, travelling by train from Coventry

Don't forget you can follow the Coventry City of Culture bid on Twitter @Coventry2021

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RECAPTURING THE ORIGINAL VISION Developing a Strategic Plan for the Cathedral Precinct Kelley Christ, the new Cathedral Architect writes a summary for the Friends e Bulletin, of the presentation, which she gave in the Cathedral, last month. “As part of the Forward Development Plan for Coventry Cathedral, I’m working closely with the Dean and Chapter on a strategic plan for the precinct. To guide this work, Chapter's Vision and the emerging Liturgical Plan will be important statements about how the cathedral, the ruins and other buildings and spaces in the precinct may be used in the future. A clear understanding of the significance of ‘the place’ will also underpin the strategic planning process. It is important to 'zoom out', in a sense, to the very edges of the cathedral precinct, to best understand the existing patterns of arrival and the movement of people across the site. There will be different ebbs and flows, depending on the occasion, the purpose of the visit and type of visitor, amongst other variables. Such evaluation is necessary, as we think about how the cathedral precinct is experienced and interpreted, to help to ensure that each visit is as meaningful, and transformative, as possible. We must not lose sight of Sir Basil Spence's intended ‘journey’, which started at the west end of the ruins and culminated at the liturgical east end of the New cathedral. The diagram above seeks to describe some of the existing patterns of movement through the precinct: the meandering route through the ruins which contrasts with the direct axial route along

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St Michael's Avenue, connecting with the City Centre. There is also the important ceremonial route down the Queens Stairs from ruins to the west doors of the new cathedral, which intersects both. It is this area - under the Porch canopy, and its surrounding spaces, which require careful evaluation in any future strategic plan. The archaeology in this area, which was exposed during the recent project to re-waterproof the ruins, reminds us once again, of the potency of the experience not only of the standing remains, but also of what lies beneath. Looking forward, our challenge is to find ways to interpret and present this evidence of the past, as part of the strategic plan for the future”.

THE STORY OF THE CRYPTS

ALTARPIECE

Mary Dale a long-standing Member of the Friends, has sent us a copy of a photograph from the Coventry Evening Telegraph, clearly showing the former entrance down to the West Crypt, from the Ruins.

It was used, she says, between 1946 and 1958, when the Chapel was used for the Sunday 8.00 am Communion Services.

The Wyley Chapel was also the home to the crèche, she says, led by the Mrs Ethel Howard, the Provost’ Wife.

One Christmas, she vividly remembers, the Nativity Story being narrated and sung in one crypt, and being heard by the Junior Sunday School, through the unglazed windows between the adjacent chapels, as if ‘it was being broadcast on the radio’.

The Photograph is of the visit by HM Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, for the Laying of the Foundation Stone of the New Cathedral 23 March 1956. Also shown in the photograph are Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher, Provost Dick Howard and Archdeacon Proctor.

Visitors to the newly restored Crypts have been puzzled about the origins of a wooden carving hanging on the wall of the Wyley Chapel.

Former Churchwarden and Council Member, Martin Williams have solved the mystery.

He has discovered that it is an altarpiece, carved and given, by Miss Loveday of Banbury, when the Chapel was used as the first Chapel of Unity.

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OUT AND ABOUT

We also send our prayers and best wishes for a speedy recovery to Cathedral Volunteer and Member of the Friends, Marilyn Valentine Brown following her spell in hospital. Our congratulations, prayers and very best wishes to Canon David Porter, formerly Director for Reconciliation Ministry at the Cathedral, who has just been appointed as Chief of Staff and Strategy, to the Archbishop of Caterbury. His last Sunday at the Cathedral will be on Sunday, 1st May. The Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick is presenting a major exhibition featuring the Shakespeare First Folio 1623 (courtesy of the V&A Museum) and a first edition of the King James Bible 1611 (courtesy of the University of Cambridge). ‘Shakespeare 400: History, Heritage and Faith’ provides the rare opportunity to see these two iconic texts, ‘twin pillars of Western society’, together. The exhibition runs from mid-April to the end of June. http://www.stmaryswarwick.org.uk/ The Mead Gallery at the Arts Centre, University of Warwick is inviting Members of the Friends, to be involved in developing ideas for an exhibition in 2018, based on responses to the poem The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot. An initial meeting at The Mead to hear the poem performed, to present the basic idea, aims and objectives, and to explore possible connections with the local area is on Thursday 5th May, from 6 - 8pm. FREE but tickets must be booked in advanced. http://www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/whats-on/2016/a-journey-with-the-waste-land/ Jeremy Paxman, writing in the FT last month, followiing a recent visit to the Cathedral, wrote: ‘But the great thing about the cathedral at Coventry is its promise that somehow the future of the world might be better’ One of the challenges of heritage management is that the work never stops. Having just completed the current works in the ruins and the project has just begun to re-fix the cladding of the Chapel of Unity.

Our prayers and good wishes for a full recovery to The Reverend Ricarda Witcombe, the Chaplaincy Team Leader at George Eliot Hospital, Nuneaton, and our Dean’s Wife, who is currently undergoing extensive medical treatment.

To inform your prayers, follow her occasional blog: http://ricardawitcombe.wordp

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THE MAKING OF A MODERN CITY

Authors: Emeritus Professor Jeremy Gould and his wife Caroline, outside the Cathedral for to launch their new book

Coventry: The making of a modern city 1939-73 aims to get beyond the story of the city’s war-time bombing and show how its rebuilding was innovative and influential. Home to the first shopping centre in Europe exclusively for pedestrians, Coventry became a model for the redevelopment of Britain and was visited by architects and planners from all over the world. Though Sir Basil Spence’s Cathedral has long been considered one of the best post-war buildings in the country, Historic England now wants to turn the spotlight on some of the city’s other 20th-century buildings, so they can be fully appreciated as a vital part of our heritage.

Andrew L Paine Chairman Charity Registration Number 1061176

The Cathedral and the Ruins, the Central Swimming Baths, Broadgate House and its mechanical Godiva clock and the Central Market are among Coventry’s modern buildings that have a place on the National Heritage List for England. Coventry the Making of a Modern City 1939 - 1973 is an Historic England book, 164pp, and is now available for £14.99