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Statement from Bishop Julian

The Bishop of Blackburn, Rt Rev. Julian Henderson issued the following statement on the day the death of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh was announced. 

"We heard today the sad news of the death of the HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. Prince Philip was an incredible public servant, retiring only from public duties late into his 90s. He was also a very successful naval officer, an accomplished sportsman and a devoted husband over seven decades.

"His desire to reform British Industry to benefit the workers, his love for the outdoors which led to the award given in his name, and his support of the Church will be things which we will remember and have impacted the lives of many people.

"Our prayers must now be for Her Majesty the Queen, as hers have so often been for us, and for the wider royal family as they deal with this personal loss very much in the public eye."

Bishop Julian also spoke about the life of the Duke of Edinburgh on BBC Radio Lancashire on Sunday, April 11 as part of a feature looking back at the Royal Maundy Service at Blackburn Cathedral on Maundy Thursday in 2014.

The Duke (pictured left by photographer Sara Cuff at the reception which took place after the Maundy event) accompanied HM The Queen when she presented Maundy Money to older men and women chosen from across Lancashire to receive the honour. Listen here (from 2h 47m). 

 

Diocesan Services, including Blackburn Cathedral

There was a livestreamed service of Choral Evensong with Prayers of Thanksgiving for the life of Prince Philip, at 4pm on April 18 at Blackburn Cathedral. A full report about the service, with further comment from Bishop Julian and also The Dean of Blackburn and The Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire, can be found on this page of the Diocesan website. 

Due to the pandemic, numbers able to attend the Choral Evensong were restricted, hence the available livestream. Click below to go straight to the livestream page which is now available as a recording on YouTube. 

The Order of Service to allow you to follow proceedings while watching online can be found here.

 

 

  • Prayers were also said for Prince Philip at services in parish churches across the Diocese on Sunday, including at Lancaster Priory at 6.30pm on Sunday 18th.
  • There were prayers for the Duke as part of our regular weekly online service from All Saints, Clayton-le-Moors led by Rev. Toby Webber. 
  • For more on services taking place across our parishes in Lancashire every week visit the A Church Near You website. 
  • On social media on Twitter we were also tweeting and retweeting activity relating to the death of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh taking place in our parishes across the Diocese. Click here to view and to follow our Twitter feed for more. 

Online condolence books

Many people will look to churches at a time of public grief such as this. As the pandemic continues, you may prefer to direct people to use online books of condolence which are available.

The national Church of England website has an online condolence book available on the homepage: www.churchofengland.org. Meanwhile you can also sign the online condolence book on The Royal Family website: www.royal.uk

Should you choose to have 'in person' books please take a common-sense approach and adhere to current guidelines: providing and using sanitizer; having separate pens available; observing social distancing etc. 

Pause for Thought on Radio 2 from Bishop Jill

Following the death of Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, Bishop Jill was invited by BBC Radio 2 to deliver their 'Pause for Thought' on Radio 2 and you can listen to it here.

You can also download the message in text form here. 

Midweek message from Archdeacon Mark

Archdeacon Mark remembers The Duke of Edinburgh in our weekly message and particularly about how he was once an asylum seeker (text of message also added to page as well as video link). 

In the message Archdeacon Mark says: "Prince Philip’s life is a reminder that Britain has a long and proud history of welcoming asylum seekers and refugees to our shores, and of valuing the contribution they make to our national life. And what an amazing contribution he has made.

'My prayer for our country ... is that this land will continue to be a safe haven'

Statements from the Archbishops

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York have both issued statements today on the death of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. 

Other information and resources 

Downloadable picture of HRH Prince Philip: HRH_The_Duke_of_Edinburgh.jpg

You can visit the Royal family website ... and here are a selection of highlights from that website covering the Duke's long life: 

Prayer and Liturgical resources

The resources below have been made available via the national church and can also be found, alongside other material in the coming days, on The Church of England website. 

The national church suggests reading the Advice for Worship and Prayer guidance ahead of using any of these official resources ... 

In addition, resources from Cambridge University Press (The Queen's Printer) can be found below:

A Church Near You

Resources in relation to the death of The Duke of Edinburgh are also now available on the A Church Near You Website, under the 'Resources Hub' area.

If you are not already on A Church Near You each church has to set up and 'own' its page directly; visit this page on our own website to find out more. 

Collective worship in schools

This collective worship offers a PowerPoint of photos with an accompanying script remembering different aspects of HRH’s long life and the chance to pause and reflect on what a life well-lived means for each one of us today.

 

 

 

 

 

Ronnie Semley, April 2021