IT was a chance to remember loved ones who had died, pray for those who had survived and to be reminded of God’s love for humanity.

10-year-old Jessica Lavery lights a candle on the cathedral's peace globe during the tsunami memorial service

More than 200 people came to a moving service of prayer and remembrance at Portsmouth’s Anglican cathedral yesterday (February 13) for those whose lives had been affected by the Asian tsunami.

The service included the chance to light candles in memory of people or situations that worshippers were praying for. Scores streamed forward to place a candle on the cathedral’s peace globe as the choir sang Taizé-style reflective chants. Some also wrote down their prayers and placed them on the altar.

Each worshipper was given a prayer card to take away to help them pray over the coming weeks and months for the rebuilding of communities left devastated by the tsunami on Boxing Day.

The service was led by the dean, the Very Rev David Brindley, and the Anglican Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Rev Kenneth Stevenson, preached. Members of other faith communities and civic leaders were also there.

Bishop Kenneth told worshippers about two memories that helped him to identify – in a very small way – with communities in the Indian Ocean. When he worked in Boston, Lincolnshire, the River Witham burst its banks and flooded his own home in 1978. And, as a young boy, he once fell into a lake and plunged to the bottom in terror.

He said: “Neither we, nor our world are finished products. There is so much about both that we simply do not understand. But that does not stop God being God - who gives us freedom to love, and to rebuild our lives, our confidence, our faith, when all seems lost, or at least seriously diminished.”

Last week, (Wed 9 Feb) he also launched his Bishop’s Lent Appeal for 2005. The annual appeal involves churchgoers and visitors across the Anglican diocese contributing towards two good causes – one local and one international. Half of this year’s money will help pay for the Church Mission Society to send teams of carpenters, construction engineers, doctors, other healthcare workers and trauma counsellors to help the re-building process in areas affected by the tsunami. The other half will go to the Rainbow Centre in Fareham.

Anyone who would like to contribute is encouraged to visit an Anglican church in south-east Hampshire or the Isle of Wight, place the money in a special Lent Appeal envelope, and fill it in so that tax can be reclaimed from the government on donations.

Churchgoers also continue to support the emergency relief effort. The youth group at St John’s Church, Purbrook, recently donated toiletries, food and baby supplies to the Friends of the Maldives, and also raised money by holding jumble and car boot sales. Other parishes have raised thousands of pounds for the emergency fund over the past six weeks.