Herefordshire Legal Service – 7th October 2018
07/10/2018
By 2018 Nathaniel Hone
A highlight for any High Sheriff is the legal service to ask God’s blessing on those engaged in the maintenance of law and order in the County – Police, Fire and Rescue, the Magistrates, the District Judges, the High Court Judges, the Court Officers, the Parole Board, the Probation Service, the Prison Service. Also we celebrate all those other arms of the state that make us a civilised nation, which we so often take for granted and, again so often, are doing thankless tasks on our behalf – the NHS, the Ambulance Service, Social Services, Local Councils. Working with them all are many volunteer and commercial organisations. Guarding us all from danger are the Armed Forces, also well represented.
The Herefordshire service is held in Hereford Cathedral as part of evensong, a service that has been taking place daily for 500 years or so. The current High Sheriff is lucky enough to chose the readings, the readers, the preacher, the hymns, the music, guided but not steered by the lovely team at our Cathedral. It is our Cathedral. It belongs to us all in our County regardless of belief or not. It is impossible not to be uplifted.
This year, the preacher was the Sheriff’s Chaplain, The Rev. Ros Trafford-Roberts who spoke on the theme of Social Care, being the High Sheriff’s focus for the year.
The service was attended by the Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire, many civic leader in the County, most of our neighbouring High Sheriffs , many members of the judiciary and representatives of a good number of voluntary organisations.
