Easter: Church services across Portsmouth and Hampshire to broadcast online

Clergy from Portsmouth Cathedral are offering a series of digital services over the Easter weekend, starting with a broadcast live on the cathedral's Facebook page at 10am on Good Friday.

The Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Rev Christopher Foster, will broadcast live from his home an Easter Sunday celebration at 9am, available on the Diocese of Portsmouth and Portsmouth Cathedral Facebook pages.

The Rt Rev Foster, said: ‘Our Christian faith will be important over the coming weeks as we face this challenging time together.

‘It will be important to root our faith in our personal prayers and what we do to help those in our neighbourhoods during this time when we won’t be able to worship together on a Sunday.’

He will be joined by head chorister James Cuthbert, aged 14, and his brothers George, 12, and David, 10, from Portsmouth Cathedral Choir, who will broadcast from their own home.

After sharing the broadcast with the bishop, Portsmouth cathedral clergy will stream an Easter service at 5.30pm on Sunday, with an address by the Dean of Portsmouth, the Very Rev Anthony Cane.

Churches from Lee-on-Solent to Cowplain will take part in the digital celebrations with their own services.

Clergy from St Faiths Church, Lee-on-Solent, are offering daily reflection on their YouTube page, and the Rev Paul Chamberlain will host a dawn service from 6am on Easter Sunday.

Clergy from St Wilfrid's Church, Cowplain, have also been offering daily reflections via video at 11am this week on the church’s Facebook page. A live Sunday morning service will take place at 11am.

Worshippers from St Jude's Church in Southsea have been asked to record video footage of themselves each saying part of the service to be broadcast on Easter Sunday at 10.30am. Their contributions will be edited together and then broadcast on Facebook, YouTube and the church's website.

Churches across the area continue to run Bible study and youth groups through teleconferencing software, and worshippers are encouraged to visits their church website for a full list of broadcasts

The governments list of key workers include ‘religious staff,’ such as parish clergy and chaplains.