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Time for Creation
Posted: 27 Aug 2010 09:28 AM PDT
Photo by DFID - UK Department for International Development The fact of global climate change has been much in evidence this summer: record heat and widespread fires in Russia; floods covering a third of Pakistan; landslides in China; and an ice island broken off a Greenland glacier, four times the size of Manhattan. Among the actions that the Church of England and our Diocese in Europe have endorsed concerning climate change is the observance of a "Time for Creation", from 1 September (the first day of the church year for the Orthodox Churches) to 4 October (the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi). During this season, our congregations are encouraged to give particular focus to environmental issues. Prayers for the environment and for the created order are often missing from the intercessions on a Sunday morning. Perhaps during this years "Time for Creation", they can begin to be part of our regular Sunday prayer. Our Diocesan Environmental Officer, Madeleine Holmes, has pointed out some helpful resources for the celebration of Creationtide. They include material to help preachers with sermon preparation for the 5 Sundays that fall between 1 September and 4 October, all based on the lectionary readings. Click here to access the range of resources. Here are some prayers that can be used. The first is a prayer for biodiversity. (2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity).
God of wisdom, showing us your love in the rising sun and waning tide,
you grace Earth with life in all its variety.
Every thing has meaning, is blessing;
every one is charged with care for the smallest creature to the ocean’s depth.
Grant us wisdom to know your ways of love and gentle kindness.
Give us the mind to learn what we do not know but long to understand
so that we may honour and nurture all that makes us one with you.
Amen The World Council of Churches has asked that we might focus our prayer for and with the people of Africa where biodiversity and human welfare are threatened alike by climate change. So here is a prayer from Nigeria:
God of Heaven and earth,
you have blessed us with the works of your hands,
The tall mountains and deep blue seas
Even wonderful creatures to adorn it
And have given us dominion over all of them
Help us to preserve and appreciate this gifts that others may benefit
Even generations to come, this we pray
through Jesus Christ, our Lord and the Holy Spirit
one God now and for ever.
Amen. These and other prayers in French, German and Spanish as well as English are available here.
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Announcement of New Canons
Posted: 19 Aug 2010 05:21 AM PDT
Bishop Geoffrey has today announced the appointment of 5 new canons of the Cathedral Chapter of the Diocese: The Reverend Ulla Monberg, Director of Training; the Reverend Christopher Jage-Bowler, Chaplain of George's, Berlin, Germany; the Reverend Ian Hutchinson Cervantes, Chaplain of St George's, Madrid, Spain; the Reverend John Wilkinson, Assistant Chaplain of the Anglican Church of Fontainebleau, France, and the Reverend Trevor Whitfield, Chaplain of the Holy Trinity, Maisons-Laffitte, France The main function of the canons of the diocese is to support the bishop by prayer and counsel. They are traditionally assigned a stall in one of our three cathedrals. The new canons are assigned as follows (pictured below, clockwise): Canon Monberg to St Augustine of Canterbury in the Pro-Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Brussels Canon Jage-Bowler to St Ignatius of Antioch in the Pro-Cathedral of the St Paul, Valletta Canon Hutchinson-Cervantes to St James in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Gibraltar Canon Wilkinson to St Silas in the Pro-Cathedral of St Paul, Valletta
And Canon Whitfield to St Paul the Apostle in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Gibraltar:
Every blessing to our 5 new canons. ***********************************************************
Young People in Algarve Fast for Peru
Posted: 18 Aug 2010 11:08 AM PDT
Members of St Vincent's Youth Group. Photo courtesy of USPG: Anglicans in World Mission USPG: Anglicans in World Mission, in its recent newsletter, has reported on an initiative of the youth of one of our parishes, St Vincent's, Algarve, Portugal:
The youth group at St Vincent’s Church, in Praia da Luz, in Portugal – part of the Anglican Diocese of Europe – completed a 30-hour fast to raise funds for USPG Project 466: Protecting Children’s Rights, which looks after the welfare of children in Peru. Fourteen young people, aged 11 to 15, took part in the fast, with only water, fruit juice and energy drinks to keep them going. The young people kept themselves occupied by helping in an orphanage, collecting food for the homeless, holding a fashion show with charity clothes, watching films, decorating T-shirts, swimming, playing games and singing songs. Lily Shelton, aged 13, reported: ‘It was for a very good cause. Many of us said we could have fasted for longer.’
The young people raised around £1,300 for a USPG supported programme run by the Diocese of Peru’s Child and Adolescent Team. The programme tackles child abuse and supports family welfare. Other church-goers are also fundraising, including Kerry Burr who is requesting donations for Peru as alternative 40th birthday gifts.
Taking part in the fast, Emily Price, 15, said: ‘We know we haven’t solved the world’s problems, but we also know that, in a tiny way, we have made a difference. The Archdeaconry of Gibraltar has a partnership with the Diocese of Peru. Well done, St Vincent's Youth, for your work to support our partner diocese!
The Revd Michael Smith Licensed to Tenerife North
Posted: 17 Aug 2010 02:14 AM PDT
On the Feast of St Clare of Assisi, 11 August, the Archdeacon of Gibraltar, the Venerable David Sutch licensed the Reverend Michael Smith as chaplain of the Anglican Church of All Saints, Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife (with La Palma), Spain. In the photo above taken after the service, from left to right: the Revd Keith Gordon (St Francis, Tenerife South), the Venerable David Sutch (Archdeacon of Gibraltar, wearing the stole from the linked Diocese of Peru), Mrs Sam Smith, the Revd Mike Smith, the Revd Malcolm Exley, Pfarrer Henning of the German Evangelische Kirche, a Meissen Agreement partner, which uses All Saints Church, Fr Mike was previously vicar of All Saints’, Great Driffield and St Mary, Little Driffield in the diocese of York. He speaks Spanish, French and Italian. Fr Mike looks forward to working with the already strong congregation in reaching out to new, particularly younger members of the expatriate community on the island. We welcome Fr Mike and his wife Sam to this diocese in Europe. The website for All Saints Puerto de la Cruz can be found here. One of the remarkable features of All Saints Church is the reproduction of Holman Hunt's "The Light of the World" pictured below, as part of a memorial given in 1930.
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Support for the Church of Pakistan's Flood Relief Programme
Posted: 16 Aug 2010 07:21 AM PDT
Photo credit: Vicki Francis / UKaid / Department for International Development Churches and individuals in the diocese are responding to the needs of the people of Pakistan through donations to the many aid agencies who are engaged in the relief efforts. In the UK, the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), an umbrella organisation for 13 humanitarian aid agencies, including Oxfam, the Red Cross and Christian agencies such as Christian Aid and Tearfund, is leading the appeal and has a proven expertise in the delivery and provision of emergency aid. Donations can be made through the websites of Christian Aid, Tearfund or the DEC website itself.Some enquiries have come from congregations in the diocese wanting to know if there is a way to channel financial support directly to Church partners, (rather than aid agencies), in Pakistan. My recommendation for channelling funds for direct church to church support is through USPG: Anglicans in World Mission. USPG is the major mission partner of the Church of Pakistan and has already been giving emergency grant support to the local Church. Staff of USPG are close touch with the bishops of the dioceses of Sialkot, Peshawar and Hyderabad which have been badly affected, and where people have lost family members, houses, animals and crops. USPG is collecting further funds as emergency support to local church teams who are responding to the humanitarian crisis. Church of Pakistan personnel are already working to distribute aid. In some cases diocesan teams have travelled by boat and army helicopter to reach flood victims. The Church of Pakistan is one of the member Churches of the Anglican Communion. It was established in 1970 when Anglicans, Scottish Presbyterians (Church of Scotland), Methodists and Lutherans came together in union. It has 9 dioceses and over 400 parishes. After the Roman Catholic Church it is the largest Church in this country where about 97% of the population are Muslim. It is worth noting that the tiny Christian community is among the poorest of Pakistan's poor, already living in slum and underdeveloped areas. Donations can be made to USPG directly through this link. The Revd Canon Edgar Ruddock, Director of USPG’s International Relations Team, has written the following meditation for use it in private prayer or in church.
How long, O Lord, how long
Will you leave your people drowning
As the surging waters rage, and suck
from fragile lungs their final choking gasp?
You whose tears of compassion used to fall
As gentle rain! They now appear to spurt
In wild lament as mother earth
Cries out at her despoliation.
How long, O Lord, how long
Will you leave your people homeless
In the anguished aftermath of nature’s savage
Trail of wanton, meaningless destruction?
You who before time or matter came to be,
Brooded over the waters, and in gentleness
Called chaos into order: where are you now
As textured lives are washed away to tatters?
How long, O Lord, how long,
Before, beside still waters, you lead your people
Once again? But then within the echoing void
A whisper on the rippling watered wind:
“You are my body now – it is for you to do”. Another shorter prayer:
Compassionate God, source of all comfort,
We pray for the people of Pakistan whose lives have devastated by rain and flood.
Bring them comfort, we pray.
Protect the vulnerable.
Strengthen the weak.
Keep at bay the ravages of disease.
Have mercy on all those working to rescue the stranded and to feed the hungry.
And may our response to their suffering be generous and bring you praise.
For we ask it in Jesus Name, Amen.
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Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ
Posted: 14 Aug 2010 05:11 PM PDT
15 August is the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The rules of the Church of England permit this festival to be celebrated on the Sunday when it falls on that day, rather than be transferred to a nearby weekday, as would happen to a lesser commemoration.
This feast is also known as the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the official Roman Catholic title), the Dormition of the Holy Theotokos (an Orthodox designation). The Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican Church of Canada prefers the Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary. These titles relate to the end of the Virgin's earthly life when her being taken to God is understood to be a sign of the eschatological hope of all humanity. So, in the words of one of our Church of England prayers for this feast,
It is indeed right and good, our duty and our salvation, almighty Father, ever-living God, to give you thanks and praise for the work of your grace in the Blessed Virgin Mary ... In her you show us the greatness of your love, and the wonderful purpose you intend for all your children.
In the traditional icon above, at the falling asleep of his Mother, Christ is shown receiving her life into eternal glory. Held by her Son, Mary is portrayed as a small child in white to show that she is always a human being, whose glory is in her humility.
With all generations we call her blessed.
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The Book of Common Prayer now online
Posted: 12 Aug 2010 01:24 AM PDT
The full text of the Book of Common Prayer has been added to the worship pages of the Church of England website. It can be found here.
The first official liturgical text to appear in English was the Litany in 1544. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer (above) went on to complete the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549. The Prayer Book went through several revisions until the present version of 1662, which remains the Church of England's official liturgy and a key doctrinal standard.
The Revd Peter Moger, the Church of England’s National Worship Development Officer and a well known figure in our diocese from the many workshops he has led, says: “The Book of Common Prayer has fed the hearts and minds of generations of Anglicans. This development - which will make access to Prayer Book texts so much easier - is to be applauded.”
Readers will likely already be aware that the texts of Common Worship, the contemporary authorized liturgies of the Church of England, mostly in a modern idiom, can also be found on the Church of England website here. ************************************************************
Church sans frontières!
Posted: 06 Aug 2010 04:34 PM PDT
 It is not often that other parts of the Church of England notice us here in the Diocese in Europe. However, the July/August edition of the Southwark Diocesan newspaper The Bridge, has devoted its centre pages to us, with feature articles from three of our clergy, the Revd Peter Edwards (Holy Spirit, Costa Blanca), the Venerable Jonathan LLoyd (Archdeacon of Germany and Northern Europe) and the Venerable Jonathan Boardman (Archdeacon of Italy and Malta). In addition, Tom Sutcliffe (left), a lay member of the Diocese of Southwark and member of General Synod has written a leader article entitled Church sans frontières! which describes us in very warm terms. A link to The Bridge centrespread feature is here. Thank you Tom and the Diocese of Southwark for this coverage. Please read Tom's leader article here by following the read more link. The Church of England’ Diocese in Europe is not there just for holidaying British visitors to sunspots in Spain, Italy, Greece, and southern France (see centre pages). Though, in my own case, it was an exchange visit in summer 1957 that brought me first to Holy Trinity, Cannes and, later in Paris, to St George, rue Auguste-Vacquerie, where Horace Hawkins, choirmaster when I was a boy at Chichester Cathedral, had founded a choir school before the first world war. The summer break brings a lot of extra visitors to these often beautiful and typical Anglican churches, many built in the late 19th century like a lot of our Southwark parish shrines. English is now the lingua franca for many European travellers, and these Euro parishes represent the familiar face of the English-speaking Christian world. Financially, however, they follow a much more American line because almost all must be self-supporting - paid for by their users. And who are the devoted parishioners on the continent who keep Anglican churches up and running and make them matter in their host countries (where, sometimes, there have been Anglican chaplaincies for centuries)? Worshippers at our Diocese in Europe churches are a notoriously mixed bunch. You might find Africans from Nigeria or Kenya or Burundi, Southern Baptist Americans, Methodists from the Uniting Church of Australia, handfuls of ex-Roman Catholics, URC believers from England and members of the Scottish Kirk, not to mention Scandinavian and German Lutherans who have got hooked on English style worship and music. In other words these Anglican chaplaincies are a vital part of Europe’s great ecumenical experiment: exile communities formed from choice and accident of Christians who are combining together rather than bent on separation. In these days of Gafcon and the Windsor Process, the Anglican church worldwide is terribly self-obsessed. International Anglicans seem to care more about style and type of Christianity, issues of Biblical debate, taking a stand against the ordination of gay men or women, than with answering the breadth of Jesus’s authentic call to love your neighbour. In contrast the Diocese in Europe sets an example of a church life that is all about getting on with people and tasks and things - sharing a pilgrimage in a foreign land, but not examining documentation and credentials. You’ll need passports to get there perhaps, but not to get in. Tom SutcliffePosted: 02 Aug 2010 03:04 AM PDT
Back in July 2008, some 1300 clergy wrote to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to express their concerns about the the consecration of women as bishops. They said that in light of a lack of provision for those who cannot accept this development "We will inevitably be asking whether we can, in conscience, continue to minister as bishops, priests and deacons in the Church of England which has been our home". The text of that 2008 letter is here. Now two years later proposed legislation to permit women bishops has been forwarded from General Synod to the dioceses for consideration. In a letter dated 27 July 2010, 15 bishops, including our Diocesan Bishop Geoffrey, have written to those clergy who signed the 2008 letter. The bishops have stated that they want the letter shared with all who may be interested to know of it, which I imagine will be many in our diocese. I post the text of the letter below. Just press the read more link. To the priests and deacons who signed the Open LetterJuly 2010 Dear Brothers and Sisters, ‘God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you, but I will tell you the good and proper way.’ (1 Samuel 12:23) These are grave times in the Church of England especially for those of us unable in good conscience to accept that any particular church has the authority to admit women to the episcopate. While we certainly accept the good faith of those who wish to make this change believing it to be God’s will, we cannot rejoice with them, not least because of the disastrous cost to Catholic unity. Our concerns are not only about sacramental assurance though that is of profound importance. If the legislation now proposed passes, it will not provide room for our tradition to grow and flourish. We will be dependent on a Code of Practice yet to be written, and sadly our experience of the last almost twenty years must make us wonder whether even such an inadequate provision will be honoured in the long term. Neither the Report of the Revision Committee nor the legislation itself shows a proper understanding of our reservations, however carefully these have been presented through the consultation process and in the College and House of bishops. It remains a deep disappointment to us that the Church at large did not engage with the excellent Rochester Report and paid scant attention to the Consecrated Women report sponsored by Forward in Faith. We must now accept that a majority of members of the Church of England believe it right to proceed with the ordination of women as bishops, and that a significant percentage of those in authority will not encourage or embrace with enthusiasm the traditional integrity or vocations within it. Nor is it their intention or desire to create a structure which genuinely allows the possibility of a flourishing mission beyond this generation. However, the closeness of the vote on the Archbishops’ amendment for co ordinate jurisdiction, concerns though there are about its adequacy, suggest at least a measure of disquiet in the majority about proceeding without a provision acceptable to traditionalists. The Catholic group fought valiantly on the floor of synod and we are grateful for that, and while many in the Church and press are speaking as if the legislation is now passed, final Synodical approval is still some way off. Whatever happens in the Synod, there are some Anglo Catholics, including in our own number, who are already looking at, indeed are resolved to join the Ordinariate as the place where they can find a home in which to live and proclaim their Christian faith, in communion with the Holy Father, yet retaining something of the blessings they have known and experienced in the Anglican tradition. Of course the Ordinariate is a new thing, and not all of us are trailblazers or can imagine what it might be like. Some will undoubtedly want to wait and see how that initiative develops before making a decision. Yet others will make their individual submission and find their future as Roman Catholics. Were the present proposals not to be substantially amended or defeated, many more of us will need to consider seriously these options. A number will remain, perhaps even reluctantly because of personal circumstances, family loyalties, even financial necessity, but with a deep sense of unease about the long term future, an unease that is surely well founded. There are faithful Catholic clergy and lay people, though deeply opposed to the likely Synodical decision who cannot currently imagine themselves being anywhere else but within the Church of England. They wonder how they can stay, yet cannot imagine leaving their much loved church and parish. They do not want to be forced out of the Church they love and will persevere where they are, whatever the theological or ecclesiological ambiguities, and seek God’s blessing on all they do. Those who are not actively seeking a home elsewhere must work to defeat the currently proposed legislation. It is essential that traditionalists engage in the debate and discussion in their diocese and are active in the election process for the next quinquennium of the General Synod when the two thirds majority in each House will be required if the legislation is to pass. Whatever our individual futures, and however disheartened we might feel, the Church of England needs strong catholic hearts and voices. The text quoted at the beginning of this letter was the one used by John Keble in his famous Assize sermon, often regarded as the starting point of the Oxford Movement. It seems remarkably apposite, and gives a clue to an appropriate attitude of heart for this process: prayerful and gracious, but clear. We are all bishops united in our belief that the Church of England is mistaken in its actions. However, we must be honest and say we are not united as to how we should respond to these developments. Nevertheless we are clear that each of the possibilities we have outlined has its own integrity and is to be honoured. We are resolved to respect the decisions made by laity, bishops, priests and deacons of our integrity, and call on you to do the same. It would be a sad and destructive thing indeed if we allowed our unhappiness and wondering to drift into unguarded or uncharitable criticism of those who in good conscience take a different path from our own. We must assume the best motives in one another, and where there are partings let them be with tears and the best wishes of Godspeed. You will we hope know of the clergy meetings in both provinces to take place in late September when there will be opportunities for discussion and an exchange of views about the future. Be assured of our prayers as you reflect about how best to respond to the challenges which face us, and we ask your prayers for us too as we seek to be faithful to the Lord, and to the Faith once delivered. Please share the contents of this letter with your people, and indeed with any who might be interested to know of it. The Rt Revd John Hind, Bishop of Chichester The Rt Revd Geoffrey Rowell, Bishop of Europe The Rt Revd Nicholas Reade, Bishop of Blackburn The Rt Revd Keith Newton, Bishop of Richborough The Rt Revd Martyn Jarrett, Bishop of Beverley The Rt Revd John Broadhurst, Bishop of Fulham The Rt Revd Peter Wheatley, Bishop of Edmonton The Rt Revd John Goddard, Bishop of Burnley The Rt Revd Andrew Burnham, Bishop of Ebbsfleet The Rt Revd Tony Robinson , Bishop of Pontefract The Rt Revd John Ford, Bishop of Plymouth The Rt Revd Mark Sowerby, Bishop of Horsham The Rt Revd Martin Warner, Bishop of Whitby The Rt Revd Robert Ladds The Rt Revd Lindsay Urwin OGS
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Europe and the Cross
Posted: 29 Jul 2010 09:38 AM PDT
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is facing widespread opposition to its ruling from last November against the display of crucifixes in Italian schools. An additional 20 countries have now joined Italy in defense of the public display of the cross. At first 10 countries asked the court to annul the November decision: Armenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, Romania, Russia and San Marino. Lithuania compared the banning to the religious persecution it suffered under communism, when religious symbols were similary banned from the classroom. Now another 10 countries have called the decision of the court into question: Albania, Austria, Croatia, Hungary, FYR Macedonia, Moldavia, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine. The governments of these countries have requested that national religious identities and traditions be respected, pointing out that in many countries, religious identity is a basis of the values, and a source of European unity. There are 47 member states in the Council of Europe. With Italy, there are now 21 which publicly oppose November's ruling. Ironically, the Council of Europe states in its founding charter that there is an "unbreakable attachment" of the peoples of Europe to "the spiritual and moral values that make up its common patrimony." (The Diocese in Europe has a presence in all these countries with the exception of Albania, Lithuania, Moldavia and San Marino).
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Image by scottgunn via Flickr
