On the 3rd November, The High Sheriff of Cheshire, Mr Mark Mitchell DL, and the Sheriff of Chester, Councillor Gill Watson, held their annual Service to mark the start of the Legal Year.
I was honoured to be part of the service, which is held every year at the historic Chester Cathedral
for Her Majesty’s Judges, Magistrates and Representatives of the Civic and Legal Bodies in Chester. The event began with a procession featuring civic, legal and judicial representatives from Chester and the neighbouring areas, which began at Chester Town Hall and led to Chester Cathedral.
On arriving at the Cathedral we all sang the first hymn, St. Denio, which was followed by a Greeting by The Very Revd Dr Tim Stratford, the Dean of Chester. Mr Eric Hodgson JP, Cheshire Bench Chairman, then read the Proclamation, before Revd Graham Shaw, Chaplain to the High Sheriff of Chester, led the congregation in an opening prayer and confession.
Dean Tim Stratford delivered the Absolution before leading the congregation in a reading of Psalm 150. The Honourable Mr justice Willian Davies KT then read the Old Testament Lesson, taken from the Wisdom of Solomon, Book of Proverbs Chapter 8, before Kate Butt sang a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace.
The New Testament Lesson, taken from the letter of Paul to the Romans Chapter 13, was read by Mark Mitchell, the High Sheriff of Cheshire. This was followed by the amazing choir from Chester Cathedral, who sang Te Deum before The Revd Paul Cowley MBE delivered the main Sermon. We all then joined with The Lord’s Prayer and the Dambuster’s March, before singing the National Anthem and processing from the Cathedral back towards the Town Hall.
It was an extremely enjoyable service and I would like to thank Mark and Gill for their very kind invite.