The Cathedral have told me on facebook that the Official Opening ceremony has been cancelled.
Phil Groom writes:
According to the following notice posted on the Durham Cathedral news section on Friday 2nd April 2010, but subsequently taken down, 12 noon tomorrow, Thursday 6th May, should see the Dean and other members of the Cathedral community — no doubt along with a good number of well-wishers from outside — gathering for the Cathedral Shop’s official opening:
Durham Cathedral Shop: click through for full screenshot
I take this opportunity to congratulate all concerned and wish them every success for the shop’s future under the Cathedral’s more enlightened ownership: may it truly be a resource centre that the Cathedral can be proud of.
With the notice having been taken down and no fresh information posted it’s unclear whether or not the official opening will go ahead as announced. If you’re planning to travel any distance, it may be wise to call ahead: full contact details for all Cathedral departments here.
Please pray:
- For the shop staff, as they continue to seek justice after several years of bullying and intimidation by the Brewer brothers.
- For the Cathedral authorities as they come to terms with their responsibilities after several years of evasion.
- For grace and wisdom for everyone involved as the shop staff and the Cathedral authorities learn to trust one another and work together.
- For openness and clear channels of communication.
Keep up to date:
SPCK/SSG: News, Notes & Info 
Thoughts and prayers are with the staff of the shop – let’s hope it’s smooth sailing with peace and caring at the heart of it all for the owners, staff and customers of the shop after the dreadful turmoil and treatment under the prior ownership.
Thank you, Phil, for both continuing to keep us all properly informed, and for showing pastoral care and concern which has not always been evident in other quarters. How many times in management text books have we read that the most expensive but also, very much, the most valuable asset of a business is staff. Durham Cathedral Shop should be successful and earn well IF the enterprise is properly managed with care and consideration shown for staff, stock and customers.
The Cathedral have told me on facebook that the Official Opening ceremony has been cancelled.
To echo Phil’s thoughts, an extract from Thomas Merton “The Power and Meaning of Love” – “The union that binds the members of Christ together is not the union of proud confidence in the power of an organisation. The Church is united by the humility as well as by the charity of her members… More than this, the Church is aware of her divine mission to bring forgiveness and peace to all men and women. This means not only that the sacraments are there for all who will approach them, but that the Christians themselves must bring love, mercy and justice into the lives of their neighbours, in order to reveal to them the presence of Christ in his Church. And this can only be done if all Christians strive genrously to love and serve all people with whom they come into contact in their daily lives.”
Maybe those at Durham will pay a bit more attention to the living stones once the frenetic activity of starting up a new bookshop has abated.
VfT speaks of mercy and justice, echoing the words – to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with you our God.
A modicum of humility would not go amiss in some areas, where we are driven increasingly by business-speak and business values – serving mammon rather than the God we profess to follow.
Oh well, no official opening but at the shop this evening from 6.00, a Tom Wright book launch, maybe the last in Durham before he heads north.
No launch? How sad.
I hope the staff are aware of how many people support them. You are in our thoughts and prayers.
You are not forgotten.
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Prayers definitely needed. For an update see the link:
http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2010/07/07/durham-cathedral-bookshop-staff-launch-legal-fight-61634-26799809