In response to the terror attack in Manchester, there will be vigils and special services at Leeds Minster and Bradford Cathedral this evening at 6pm.
At Leeds Minster the vigil , tonight (Tuesday) at 6pm, will be led by the Bishop of Leeds, the Rt Revd Nick Baines, and the Rector of Leeds, Canon Sam Corley.
At the same time, 6pm, at Bradford Cathedral the Bishop of Bradford, Rt Revd Toby Howarth will lead a Prayer Vigil with other civic and religious leaders. Among those in attendance will be the Deputy Lord Mayor, Cllr Doreen Lee and Kersten England (Bradford Met CEO). Music will be led by the choir, various civic and faith leaders will lead prayers and there will be two minutes silence. Everyone will be invited to light candles as the choir sings and the Cathedral will remain open as long as is needed for personal prayer.
All other churches in the diocese are being asked, wherever possible, to be open for prayer.
Prayers were said in Wakefield Cathedral this morning and prayers stations have been set up inside there. The sub dean of Wakefield Cathedal, Canon Tony Macpherson, said those caught up in this terrible attack will be remembered in special prayers at every service over the next week. Evensong is at 5pm today (Tues).
In Huddersfield, the parish church is open and there will be a vigil there from 4.30pm today. Gather at 4.30pm with words at 5pm. The local parliamentary candidates for Huddersfield are expected to be there alongside civic leaders and those of different faiths and no faith.
Batley Parish Church is open from 3-8pm today for anyone to reflect, pray or light a candle as we remember Manchester.
Bishop Nick has written a blog (see text below) and the Church of England has published the following prayer:
A #Prayer for #Manchester.
A Collect for Peace
O God, the author of peace and lover of concord,
to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom:
Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies;
that we, surely trusting in your defence, may not fear the power of any adversaries;
through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Bishop Nick's blog on terror attack in Manchester
Yesterday my dad was 86 years old. Today at least 22 families will wake up to a world in which their own children will have found their life ended young. The loss can only be indescribable. Life will never be the same again; the sense of injustice will not be comprehended.
The cowardice of the perpetrator is striking. Isn’t it brave and principled to target unwitting children and young people?
The emergency services, along with ordinary people who responded heroically, represent the best of a society that refuses to regard such events as ‘normal’. It is shocking, a crime and a sin beyond words.
The words that haunt me come from a poem written three thousand years ago:
How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? (Psalm 13:2)
The depths of human perversion are evident. My prayer is that those whose lives have been torn apart by this atrocity will be drawn by a profound hope and not devastated by fear.
May the crucified and risen One shine light into this darkness and bring some peace.