A LOST sheep is the star of a new children’s book created by a team at St Albans Cathedral, launched on 3 December.

The book, Felipe the Sheep, aimed at children of primary-school age, was written by Andrew Baird, a member of the congregation, and illustrated by Liz Cherrett. It tells the story of Felipe, a character in the cathedral’s nativity play who is lost just before the play begins. A sheepdog must track him down to save the play. It is described in a press release as “an introduction to the life of the Cathedral, the nativity play, and the Church more generally”. About 300 copies were sold on Sunday.

The cathedral’s youth chaplain and a Minor Canon, the Revd Calum Zuckert, said last week that the story “invites each of us to an encounter with this Jesus as we tell the story once more of the Word made flesh”.

The Dean, the Very Revd Jo Kelly-Moore, said that children’s ministry was “front and centre of who we are as a cathedral”. The cathedral offers Children’s Church on Sundays, alongside a Diddy Disciples group for pre-school children. It also has youth groups for both older and younger teenagers, a young singers’ group, and a toddlers’ group, and holds a weekly service for toddlers.

“I can’t wait for the story of Felipe to be told here and far away — the sheep who was lost, but now is found — as we celebrate Christ’s love for us this Christmas,” Dean Kelly-Moore said.

Felipe the Sheep (Memory Lane Publications, £6) is available in the cathedral shop or online at: stalbanscathedral.org/Event/felipe