Cathedral's online worship is global success
Durham Cathedral is celebrating the first anniversary of a online community, which was sparked by a decision to livestream daily services during the pandemic.
The cathedral was among the first to live stream its daily services on Facebook – and the community has continued to thrive as congregations returnedto churches, with about 500 people still regularly connecting with the cathedral’s live-streamed services.
Canon Charlie Allen, who established the Community of Prayer project, said: “As the names of those commenting on live-streamed services became familiar and people started getting to know one another online, we saw an opportunity to
build a community.
An online service took place to mark the first year of Durham Cathedral’s Community of Prayer.
The community has 370 members – including worshipers from Australia, Finland, Canada and the Philippines.
Canon Allen, who gave an address at the anniversary service, added: “The community has gone from strength to strength over the past year, with new members joining every day.
"There is a crossover between the groups which allows people to maintain their worship ping habits as their circumstanceschange, including those who would normally join us in person but are now house bound, and students who split time between home and university.” Members of the community are encouraged to follow the cathedral’s daily rhythm of online worship, take part in ‘Quiet Days’ which encourage participants to reflect on a given theme, and virtual gatherings and online spaces for connecting with members.
For details, go to www.durhamcathedral.co.uk/worshipmusic/community-of-prayer