A quarter of the adults in the UK have watched or listened to a religious service during the Coronavirus lockdown.Journalist Harriet Sherwood has also revealed in the Observer of May 3 that one in 20 adults have started praying during the crisis, according to a new survey.The Church of England has said that unexpectedly high numbers of people are tuning online for broadcast services and 6000 people phoned a prayer hotline in its first 48 hours of operation.The survey commissioned by the Christian aid agency Tearfund, fund that a third of young adults aged between 18 and 34 had watched or listened to an online or broadcast religious service, compared with one in five adults over the age of 55.One in five of those who have tuned into services in the past few weeks say they have never gone to church.The most frequent subjects of prayers since the lockdown has been family (53%), friends (34%), thanking God (24%), the person praying (28%), frontline services (27%), someone unwell with Covid-19 (20%), and other countries with Covid-19 (15%).A separate poll conducted by Christian Aid found that the Vicar of Dibley, the Revd Geraldine Granger and played by Dawn French in the BBC series, would be the public's choice from television characters to lead the UK through the coronavirus crisis.On this website our prayer for the day is updated daily and you can access services posted by our priest Revd Ian Maslin and also recent sermons by Bishop Andrew Watson and Bishop Jo Bailey Wells.
April 23 is the day we commemorate the life of St George, the patron saint of England.He is remembered as a martyr. Fifth century records confirm his existence. It seems he was a soldier and a victim of the Diocletian persecutions in Lydda, Palestine. Diocletian was responsible for some of the most vicious ethnic cleansing against the early Christians from 303 to 304. It is claimed that George, a Roman army officer, gave his possessions to the poor and openly confessed his Christianity before the court investigating him.In more modern culture George is famed for the legend that he slayed a dragon. That emerged as the most popular image we now have of him. But that legend didn't develop until the eighth century, five hundred years after his death. George's popularity as a saint grew with the Crusades in the twelfth century. He became the patron saint of soldiers and Richard I called on him for protection before the third Crusade in 1187. A red cross on a white background became the colours of the crusaders and eventually recognised as England's national flag.Edward III made St George England's patron saint in 1347. And Shakespeare added a lustrous gloss to his reputation in the speech he ascribed to Henry V before the battle of Agincourt in 1415. Henry V told his army that St George was their powerful ally in the famous words: "Follow your spirit; and upon this charge, Cry, 'God for Harry, England and Saint George!"
