Holy Week services from York Minster are to go ahead online
Enjoy a pint together in virtual pub
DRINKERS CAN now get together for a pint after the Campaign for Real Ale created a virtual pub to help tackle loneliness and social isolation during the lockdown and closure of the nation’s hostelries.
Visitors to the Red (On)Lion can even book a table to set up video conferencing with their friends.
Tables can take part in games such as Heads Up and charades or tune into pub quizzes taking place around the country, tutored tastings and more.
The Red (On)Lion is the social arm of CAMRA’s Pulling Together campaign, which was launched just two weeks ago to support the brewing and pub industry.
National chairman Nik Antona said CAMRA wanted to “create a home where the nation’s beer and cider drinkers can come together”.
SENIOR CLERGY in Yorkshire have pledged to carry on with services online in the run-up to Easter after churches and cathedrals were forced to close.
For the first time in the 800-year-history of York Minster, the Dean and clergy are to lead worship and prayers digitally for Holy Week.
At Ripon Cathedral, prayers and special services are to be streamed online.
The Dean of York, the Right Rev Dr Jonathan Frost, said: “Confined to our homes as we seek to stay safe, it is to box sets or drama series to which many of us will turn.
“A good story can draw us in, reframe our perspective and open up new horizons. The true story of the last days of Jesus of Nazareth can do the same.
“May you find hope in the reflections, meditations, stories and music offered for Holy Week
The Dean of York, the Right Rev Dr Jonathan Frost, told of ‘new horizons’.
and Easter via the York Minster website.”
York Minster closed to the public on March 17 in response to the virus. The Dean and clergy have since released daily reflections and prayers online.
Next week a new series of audio services will be released to mark some of the most important days in the Christian calendar, including Palm Sunday,
Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. The mini-services, each around 20 minutes in length, will include readings, prayers and music recorded by the minster choir in late March and on earlier CDs.
The Church of England will broadcast national services for Palm Sunday and Easter Day on its Facebook page.
In Ripon, evening prayers are streamed every night, while special services are to be held online through Easter week.
The Dean of Ripon, the Very Rev John Dobson, who has this week experienced some mild coronavirus symptoms, thanked all those who have offered him their prayers.
He said: “It is important that we continue to come together as a community, even though kept distant from each other physically, to walk the way of discipleship as Ripon Cathedral together through these very significant days.”