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building a community of grace
Bank Details: Anglican Church in Freiburg: Sparkasse Freiburg IBAN: DE29680501010002511920 BIC: FRSPDE66XXX (Konto Nr.: 2511920 BLZ: 68050101)
anglican church in freiburg newsletter
May 2015
Address:Lorettostraße 61.
www.freiburganglicanchurch.wordpress.com
May Locum: Peter and Anna Bement
Peter, like Anna, grew up in Cardiff. He made a professional career in academia, teaching English Literature in universities in Wales and the USA, specialising in Shakespeare and his contemporary dramatists, and literature of the Renaissance and Romantic periods. He became a Christian at the age of 40, and was ordained in St David’s Cathedral at the age of 50. After serving as curate in a Pembrokeshire parish, he was Vicar of Llandeilo Fawr from 1997 to his retirement in 2008, since when he has helped in local parishes and served as an ICS chaplain in France and Switzerland. He enjoys reading, cycling and fly fishing. Anna has been a Reader in the Church in
Wales for over 20 years now, and has worked alongside Peter to support his ministry where her
Church e-mail: [email protected]
main involvement has been with women’s groups, youth work, Alpha, and taking Sunday services.
New Church Council at WorkApril 14th saw the first meeting of the
new Church Council. The agenda was overflowing with topics as usual. Nearly all were business. We had to elect a statistic administrator (Keith and Nick), a safeguarding officer and a safeguarding indentification checker (Malcolm) etc. The next two meetings will be spent with all the business topics which are left. In July we will have a retreat led by Markus Laibach and Sonia with the theme “communication”.
The Anglican Church in Freiburg (ACF) receives no funding from the Diocese of Europe, nor German Kirchensteuer. We rely solely on contributions from members and friends of the ACF.
A short prayer for the interregnum:Dear Lord, call to our church a true Shepherd,a man or woman of God, a minister of Christ,
and make us, with him or her,a church joyful in worship and united in witness,
working, caring, praising, loving,to the glory of your name, through Christ our Lord.
ANGLICAN CHURCH IN FREIBURG NEWSLETTER PAGE 2
The Anglican Church in Freiburg is a part of the Diocese in Europe of the Church of England. It is also in partnership with the Anglican Church in Basel. Email: [email protected]
Peter and Anna Bement:
01573 186 3115bements@hotmail
.co.uk
Church Wardens :
Almut Schulz ,0151 25696204
Judi th Moratscheck,0151 57629354
Please visit our website:http://freiburganglicanchurch.wordpress.com
June Newsletter
If you have any items for the June newsletter, would you please send them to Cindy by May 24th. Thanks.cindywyneken@ gmx.de
Safeguarding OfficerIn the wake of the scandal of child abuse in the Roman Catholic
Church, the CofE started their own investigation and discovered it has happened in their churches as well. They developed a safeguarding policy – not only for children but also for vulnerable adults. Every parish has to nominate a safeguarding officer. She or he has to give advice to the Church Council and parish, and to guarantee the rules are kept. These rules are rather strict and sometimes pose a problem. For instance: every group with children has to be supervised by two persons. If we want to have a second group at Children’s Church we are always obliged to have two adults. As we are short of volunteers, Ceri and her team found a solution: one person is the teacher and the second person does not need preparation – just being there is enough. As helpers, people of all age groups are welcome!
If you are willing to help please contact Ceri.For all enquiries about the Safeguarding Policy please contact Malcolm
MacLaren, our Safeguarding Officer. Information can also be obtained from the website of the diocese.
Services in May:May 3 11:30 All Age Service 19:30 Taizé Service with Holy CommunionMay 10 11:30 Holy CommunionMay 17 11:30 Morning WorshipMay 24 11:30 Holy CommunionMay 31 11:30 Morning Worship
Activities and events in May:Monday 4 May 18:00 Open Prayer MeetingTuesday 5 May 19:00 H.O.P.E. (Formerly P.O.P.)Thursday 7 May 19:30 Roots and Shoots, Bible StudyThursday 7 May 19:30 Women’s Prayer Group (Change of regular date)Thursday 21 May 19:30 Roots and Shoots, Bible Study Tuesday morning Women’s Group every Tuesday at 10:00 at Cindy’s house. Please contact Cindy or Margaret for details.North Freiburg home group. Please contact Ceri or William for details.South Freiburg home group. Please contact Margaret, Ina, or Michael for details.
ANGLICAN CHURCH IN FREIBURG NEWSLETTER PAGE 3
P.O.P. now H.O.P.E.The group P.O.P., that is, Protect Our Planet, is changing its name to H.O.P.E., standing for Heal
Our Planet Earth. The group’s aim is to discover and share ways in which each one of us can contribute so that the Kingdom of God grows from seeds we sow on this earth. As we pray “Thy Kingdom come on Earth as it already is in Heaven!” We also pray “Give us our daily bread” – then we read each person living in Germany throws away over 60 kgs of food a year and millions are starving. The good news – yes, there is hope – is we can do something about it!
We read of the refugees drowning in the Mediterranean, wars, earthquakes. We listened to Wolfgang Hochbrück praying in the Intercessions: “Lord, help us to help”. That is what hope is: to try to understand how things are, and how they got this way, and try to find small solutions for a brighter, more meaningful, more joyous future. Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven! We are meeting on Tuesday the 5th May at 19.00 in the Petrus Gemeinde. I hope to see you there.
MargaretSunrise Service on Easter Morning
Bev Grainger5am...Oh dear, what a shock, some of us had to get up early, dress and catch the Strassenbahn,
for our starting point to climb up Kanonenplatz.Warmly clad we managed to get to the top. There were
eight of us. Michael Warnatz played the guitar, and we sang to our hearts’ content. A story of the risen Christ was told by Lauren Warnatz.
We watched the rising sun, from behind the clouds and the going down of a full moon. What a joy that was to behold God’s glory in the sky. I would not have missed this sight for the sake of sleeping-in.
Come on everyone, next year is going to be your year to climb up.We sang several songs appropriate to that time, and closed with prayer given by Klaus Warnatz.We came slowly down the mountain to have breakfast or fall back into bed, and then get up again
to the Easter Morning Service at out Church.
CHRIST HAS RISEN INDEED.
New Children’s Church group for Older Kids Beginning in May, Julia and Nikolina will be starting up a children’s church group for the children
beyond elementary school and pre-confirmation. It will be offered on a monthly basis for now. If more volunteers come forward, these children could receive age-appropriate teaching more often!
Our first aim will be to get an idea of where the children stand in their faith. Then, we will want to figure out together how faith can play a strengthening and positive role in their daily lives, when loads of schoolwork, varying interests, nagging parents, peer pressure etc., may be making life complicated. Building a bridge between everyday life and the teachings of the Bible will be our goal.
So if you would like to send your pre-confirmation child along, we will be delighted to have them. If you might consider joining the children’s church team (for the older or the younger kids) your help will be very much appreciated – please speak to anyone on it. At any rate, please pray for a good start of this new group!
Thanks and love,Julia and Nikolina
ANGLICAN CHURCH IN FREIBURG NEWSLETTER PAGE 4
Feeling and Practicing the Presence of GodSonia Diaz- Monsalve
Like happy brides and grooms our church weekend away was a delightful experience to prepare ourselves for “dressing up” for a wedding celebration – changing our old (and dirty?) clothes for new and beautiful ones: “clothing with Christ”.
All participants (the weekend awayers!) unanimously summarized the event as “huge success”.
Key aspects to make the retreat an unforgettable experience were:
The excellent organization (Lauren and team of collaborators) •The inspiring couple (Peter and Anna) providing valuable spiritual and practical guidance in the sessions•The openness of participants to receive the Holy Spirit•The perfect link between the topics covered and the music to give us deep sensations and emotions (thanks Helen Rose and team!)
• The balance between theological theory and practical suggestions to allow us to grow as individuals and as a community
• The green environment which reminded us of the majesty of creation and our responsibility to protect it
We came back to Freiburg as “SAINTS” with fresh energy, warm hearts and new motivation:S setting a good exampleA asking for God’s helpI introducing/inviting friends to Jesus N never giving up in our prayersT trusting God always S smiling constantly
To Lauren, Ceri and all the people involved in making the occasion a real happy wedding, perceiving the wind, the fire, the water, and the dance of the Holy Spirit: Big thanks!
I take the opportunity to invite our community to participate in the weekend away next year (wherever it will be).
With many blessings and new clothes,Yours,Sonia
ANGLICAN CHURCH IN FREIBURG NEWSLETTER PAGE 5
Ecumenical Pentecost Service
All members of ACF are warmly invited to an ecumenical Pentecost service on Saturday, 23rd May, starting at 5 p.m., in the Martinskirche on the Rathausplatz in Freiburg. Some of our singing group members will be contributing to the music in the service, in which Roman Catholic, Methodist, Salvation Army, Old Catholic and Anglican Christians will celebrate the festival of Pentecost together.
Sunday OutingsFreiburger Summer’s Days seem to be made to enjoy the sun, fresh air and good company, don’t you agree?That’s at least what some ACF members and families think. So over the past two years or so it has for some of us become a tradition on sunny
days to head off after church together to find a nice spot for the afternoon.
We have good conversations, share a picnic, let the kids play, relax in the park, invite each other around for barbecues, go for walks and so on.
Normally we don’t plan anything in advance and just do our arrangements after the church service. We meet most Sundays, always of course depending on the weather and on who is around.
Sometimes we bring food along, at other times we rely on the joys of Sunday-open bakeries.And the best is: these very informal, but nevertheless extremely enjoyable get-togethers are open
for you too! We’d love to have your company and use the summer months to grow together even more as a church family.
If you feel like joining us then please speak to Martyn & Céline Rittman or Nick & Christine Ghinn.
We’re looking forward to some nice afternoons with you!
The Passover MealBev Grainger
The Jewish holiday of Passover commemorates the Exodus from Egypt. About 30 members of our community gathered together to remember this event. The delicious meal we had was based on the Jewish Passover, and was rich in symbolism.
Starter:The meal we had was based on the Jewish Passover Seder plate; including a slow cooked egg,
salad of bitter herbs, “Heroset” paste, horseradish, salt dressing, parsley leaves, unleavened bread, each with a different meaning according to the Jewish tradition.
ANGLICAN CHURCH IN FREIBURG NEWSLETTER PAGE 6
Soup:Vegetable broth, with “Matzo dumplings” traditional soup for the Passover meal.Main Course:Meat balls with special tomato sauce and cous-cous.The meal was cooked by Nick Ghinn, his brother-in-law George, with the help and support of
Nick’s wife, Christine. It was complimented with wine, juice and water. Candles on the table had a wooden cross attached to them, and were lit at a given time.
What a wonderful evening we all had, celebrating our Lord, and for those of you who were not present, I can only recommend you attend next year.
Birthday Cards and Get-Well CardsA big thank you to the Sunday school and their supervisors for the time and effort in turning
their hands to making beautiful cards to be sent out to the over 70’s and those who are not so well.Your skills were super and will bring a lot of joy to those who receive the cards.Just remember I will be needing some more in the not too distant future.Thank you once againBev Grainger.
Licensing of Hilary Jones as chaplain in BaselAlmut Schulz
Judith and I went on April 18th to the licensing service at Sacre Coeur Church in Basel. Archdeacon Peter Potter acted on behalf of the Bishop, the Basel Clergy and some clerical friends of Hilary were present. It was a beautiful service with lovely music. On the website of the diocese you can find more pictures. After the service on her way out Hilary stopped to give us a hug.
People from the Basel congregation were very welcoming and pleased to see us and we felt like belonging to them. Let us continue to improve our relationship by visiting one another and pray for Basel (as they do for us).
