Encounter Cathedral Built by the people, for the people, to the Glory of God.

www.liverpoolcathedral.org.uk 2 ’s Welcome

The magnificent tower is the first vision It’s been a momentous year because of of most people support from our Guardians, Patrons and encounter. Dominating the cityscape. in particular LJMU. I thank our volunteers, Visible for miles around. The home of staff, donors, worshippers, supporters and the highest and heaviest peal of . It visitors for how they encounter this place. makes its presence felt. So I have chosen the tower to symbolise our story. It’s been a momentous year as we have taken time to refresh our thinking. To It’s been a momentous year for me. Since honour the past and look to the future. becoming Dean I have encountered I’ve asked myself and others how this links a great welcome across cathedral, together – from gala dinner to prayer city and region. I have seen enterprise, and worship. One word leapt to mind. witnessed a cathedral at the centre of Encounter. the highs and lows of Liverpool life, and taken part in diverse cultural events. I’ve Liverpool Cathedral is a place of seen a cathedral community that cried encounter. Built by the people, for the with the city, cheered with the city, fed people, to the Glory of God. Our annual the city and prayed for the city. review tells the story of that encounter.

It’s been a momentous year for the cathedral. We’ve secured £8.2m of donations to our £24m for 2024 target. We welcomed the moon and the knife angel. SueDean of Liverpool Jones We hosted dinners, award ceremonies and concerts. We’ve seen record numbers of worshippers and visitors. 3 Encountering Liverpool Cathedral

Liverpool Cathedral is more than an • A safe, generous place in joy and iconic building. It’s a vibrant, active place sorrow that the people of the city, regions and world encounter in many ways. Led by our • A dynamic community of staff and Dean we have reflected on our mission volunteers and ministry. This led to us seeing the • A God who knows and loves you. word Encounter become of increasing importance to us. Our review is divided by those themes showing how we have progressed in Encounter is how a gala dinner relates to each area. a school trip. Encounter is how a tourist visit relates to an awards ceremony. Encounter is how they all relate to our main purpose of prayer, worship and service. People encounter us in many ways. But in each way, we hope they encounter a warm welcome and sense of God.

We believe everyone will encounter:

• Inspiring Christian worship

• A breathtaking experience

• A community committed to justice and mercy 4 Inspiring Christian Worship

More than a cultural, heritage experience • We saw deacons and priests ordained, we are a fully functional church. readers licensed, a Dean installed and Encountering Liverpool Cathedral means a welcomed, children and encountering a place of daily prayer, a adults confirmed and thousands place of God, a spiritual heart of the city. sustained in faith We‘re proud to offer worship with a range • We launched a congregation - of styles and traditions. Choral worship is Something New - connecting with supported by a world-renowned choir. local young adults as they explore Our well established Zone 2 Congregation more about their faith offers refreshingly different worship in a café style and Sepas provides tailored • 123 people auditioned for our choir. worship for the Persian community. Our choral groups: Liverpool 64, the Youth and Junior choirs helped more We are a place where: people benefit from our musical • We held 1,244 worship services in 2018 expertise • 13,655 people came to our Advent • We fully interpret major services into BSL and services, we added For a diverse range of people to extra services to cope with demand. encounter God, we need to continue to • 9,500 came to our end of term be excellent in traditional worship while schools’ services exploring new ways to engage. Inspiring worship comes in many styles. Through • We mark important worship occasions our worship, we will inspire people to such as the annual Judges’ service encounter a living God. and the tenth anniversary of Liverpool as European Capital of Culture 5 A breathtaking experience

We often recognise the first time visitor by • Educational workshops where 8,469 the way they’re awed by this magnificent pupils experienced guided tours and building as they enter. There is nothing themed workshops on aspects of quite like encountering us for the first time, religion as well as exploring topics such no matter what the reason for visiting is. For as remembrance us, a one-off visit is not enough. We want people to keep revisiting and seeing the • Corporate dinners and events variety of activities we hold for visitors. bringing high-quality dining to our wonderful setting, creating So our 700,000 visitors were able to memorable experiences encounter: We remain a prime destination for many • Luke Jerram’s stunning Museum of the of the cruise ships that visit Liverpool as Moon (60,000 visited in one week) well as a stop for scores of coach parties.

• The moving and thought-provoking When you encounter Liverpool Cathedral Knife Angel - a beacon highlighting you encounter people going the extra the national plague of knife crime mile to offer a breathtaking experience. We work and serve an awesome building • A Visit England accredited venue built to the Glory of an awesome God. celebrating being Large Visitor Encounter us and you will feel that awe. Attraction of the year 2018 in the Liverpool City Region Awards

• Stunning city views from the top of our tower (both day and night)

6 Committed to justice and mercy

Our faith compels us to be committed • Secured 14 jobs through our to seeing justice and mercy in our employability programme while community. Our principles and values starting many more on that journey compel us to see justice and mercy. We work hard to bring that to reality. • Raised £110,000 of donations to Our charity - Micah Liverpool, which we support our work run in partnership with the Metropolitan Liverpool Cathedral established the Cathedral and St Luke in the City church, Micah Lecture as an opportunity has that commitment at its foundation. for leading theological thinkers to Offering emergency food aid and discuss different perspectives on volunteering opportunities Micah social action. Last year thoughts were Liverpool has: provoked by Ann Morisy on “Resilience and the risk of lopsided justice”. • Shared an average of 235 food parcels per week To be committed to mercy is to offer the food parcels, the volunteering • Established a community food shop in opportunities, the support for those central Liverpool in need. To be committed to justice is to raise our voice to those in • Collaborated with the Liverpool power stating an alternative vision Whitechapel Centre to host the of what society could be. Liverpool Liverpool Cathedral Sleepout - a safe Cathedral remains committed to both. way of helping younger people understand homelessness while raising funds

7 Image courtesy of ©Anthony Mooney Cream Classics

Safe and generous - in joy and sorrow

It is fitting that this iconic building is a place • The funeral of Sir , a focus of that brings city and region together in world attention - one of many high sorrow and joy. Being built for the people and not so high profile figures who we means that we want to enable the had the privilege to help say people to use it for the occasions that goodbye to. matter most to them. Be it big civic events or small personal services we aim to be • Well established landmark events such there for others. as Cream Classical and the Arts Markets - an established market visited We were the host and backdrop to: by 16,000 people supporting local creative people. • Liverpool John Moores University annual graduations welcoming over We are proud to be part of Liverpool’s 30,000 students, families and staff cultural offer, a cherry on the cake when the city seeks to bring international • 408 business and cultural events business to the area. We remain a including the ECHO Regional significant venue at cultural events such Business Awards, the Educate Awards as the increasingly popular Light Night. and Littlewoods’ staff celebrations We know that when communities want • A landmark concert of Britten’s to come together in sorrow and joy they War Requiem with British and German often turn to the church. We are the place choristers marking the centenary that cries and sings with the people. of the end of World War One.

• A full programme of organ recitals, choir performances and music recitals 8 A dynamic community of staff and volunteers

A community such as the cathedral can • Saw Richard White and only thrive because of the efforts and Canon Paul Rattigan moving on to will of our volunteers and staff. We know new challenges while installing Canon that the welcome visitors receive and Bob Lewis as our Dwelly Raven Canon the experience they have is down, in the most part, to the people they encounter Dynamism and innovation go hand in and the way they encounter them. We hand. We see innovation in many ways have considered the values that bind including: us together and how we display those • The completion of our training facility values to our visitors. - St Aidan’s Centre

Over any year people come and go and • Successful outreach such as Teeny last year we: Maestros bringing music to the • Welcomed our 8th Dean and the first under 5s woman to hold this senior post in the We are committed to valuing the work church and dedication of staff and volunteers. • Strengthened our music department We are committed to paying a living with a new Director of Music - Lee Ward wage to our professional and outstanding staff. We want to encourage dynamism • Appointed a new Architect - Mike and support ideas. We believe that this Darwell - a significant appointment to dynamic approach will continue to help us look to the future while inspire to seek new ways to enable visitors honouring the traditions and ethos of to encounter God. Sir

9 © LJMU graduation

A generous God who knows and loves you

The stark fact is that we need £69,000 • Maximised donations through every week to run the cathedral. contactless payments, increased use of gift aid and recruiting a Volunteer As a community of faith, we believe in Fundraising Coordinator a generous God who knows and loves us. We thank God for the donations and • Donations continue from the Friends support that enable us to fulfil our mission and the Francis Neilson Trust supporting and do our work. We are grateful for a whole range of experiences for our Patrons and Guardians who offer so young people. much to the running of this place. Our response to this generosity is to be This generosity has seen: prudent with our resources. We have, in challenging financial circumstances, • A tremendously creative partnership achieved a break-even budget which with our valued Patron Liverpool John enables us to be on a firm foundation. Moores University We do this without sustained government • An impressive £8.2m funding secured support and remaining true to the idea for our £24m for 2024 campaign from that our cathedral should remain free to over 100 donors enter to benefit all people. This makes for • £194,000 raised to enable us to support a creative and enterprising cathedral the ongoing restoration of our seeking to find ways to secure our financial magnificent organ position so we can remain a place of encounter for future generations. • Visitor donations reach the highest level ever at £137,000

10 The Cathedral’s encounter continues

Seeing so many encounter this place for We have come this far thanks to your so many reasons gives hope for the future. support. We will achieve much more Yet we are aware of the challenges we through your ongoing support. We want face. This is why we rely on your ongoing Liverpool Cathedral to continue to be support. a place of encounter so that future generations will know that we are built by We are continuing to develop plans to the people, for the people to the glory of improve the breathtaking experience for God. visitors. We want to remain a place that the people of the city and region want to encounter. Through our £24m for 2024 campaign, we want to do more than secure our future. We want to enhance the visitor experience with new ways for people to encounter us. We need to invest in the maintenance of our iconic listed building. We want to remain a place that inspires people to worship God and to serve others in his name. Sadly, the work of Micah is still very much needed.

We know that generations of people throughout the world fall in love with this place as a result of their visit. We want more people to encounter that love.

11 Liverpool Cathedral, St James’ Mount, Liverpool L1 7AZ 0151 709 6271 www.liverpoolcathedral.org.uk