Archbishop of York begins Lord’s Prayer tour across northern England
[Office of the Archbishop of York] Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell began his Lord’s Prayer tour across northern England with a service of Choral Evensong at York Minster on March 7. The tour will visit cathedrals and churches, exploring the words of the Lord’s Prayer through teaching, reflection and music.
At the heart of the archbishop’s tour is a simple but powerful invitation: to pray the Lord’s Prayer by heart and align our lives with God’s will. This call is beautifully echoed in the prayer’s central plea, ‘Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’
Using the metaphor of music, Cottrell’s sermon at the evensong service encouraged people to think of God’s will as the single perfect note that resonates throughout the universe — a note to which our lives can be tuned. Through prayer, we learn to hear this note, bringing harmony to our hearts and aligning with God’s purpose for the world.
The service at York Minster also featured a musical performance of a new setting of the Lord’s Prayer, composed by Lucy Walker. Sung by the choir of York Minster, the piece highlighted how the Lord’s Prayer continues to resonate with people today.
The tour and newly commissioned music are part of “Faith in the North,” which has been developed to encourage prayer, storytelling and church planting, inspired by the northern Saints such as Hild, Cuthbert, Bede and Paulinus. The goal is to deepen connections with the Christian faith and renew the church’s mission to share God’s love with all. Free resources are available for schools and churches to help explore this.
