Eurobishop

Since last Friday, all computers, servers and telephones in Church House, Westminster, have been completely shut down. This has meant that the Europe Diocesan Office and my own office have been left with extremely limited capacity to respond to any messages or emails. (We have been able to get some messages in and out through our mobile telephones). It is not possible to access any documents or work stored on the servers. Needless to say, this is an extremely frustrating situation, given that next week we are all in Cologne for the inside of a week at Diocesan Synod! Nerves are frayed, understandably. Meanwhile, the Diocesan Finance Officer, Mr Nick Wraight, is offering his colleagues comforting cups of tea. A classic English solution in times of hardship. The IT department of Church House is working on this systems meltdown. We sincerely hope to be back to full operation by the end of today. We apologise for any delay in correspondence or in matters related to the work of the D...

On 27th May, fifty two adults and thirteen young people of the Greater Athens Anglican Chaplaincy came together for a quiet day at the Uniate Convent of I Pammakapistos in the northern suburbs of Athens. We can certainly appreciate that with the upheavals in Greece, a time for prayer and reflection together was much appreciated. The Revd Canon Malcolm Bradshaw, the chaplain of Greater Athens reported that the weather was perfect, the grounds expansive, facilities excellent and the hospitality given by this small religious community was extraordinary. Sr. Frances Dominica of Helen and Douglas House led the Quiet Day. Drawing from her long experience within the Hospice movement she spoke on ‘Me’, ‘You’ and ‘God’. Both the tragedy and the joy in life were touched upon as well as living with unanswerable questions and the mystery of God. The worship for the day was based on the shape of the Eucharist. It was closely inter-related with the theme of each session. Parallel to the session...

Candidates renew their baptismal vows Great Feasts of the Christian calendar might get slightly displaced in Monaco if they happen to fall on the weekend of the Formula One Grand Prix. Road closures on Sunday morning mean that it is very difficult for people to get to Church. The main Sunday liturgy is thus celebrated on Saturday evening. This year it was the Feast of the Holy Trinity which had to be "anticipated" on Saturday night. But it was still a major and joyful celebration which this year included confirmation of two members of St Paul's Monaco, and one from the neighbouring parish of St Michael's, Beaulieu. Fr Walter Raymond OGS, of St Paul's was joined by Fr Philip Robinson, the locum priest at St Michael's, in presenting candidates for the Apostolic Rite of Confirmation.   Posted with Blogsy

Doreen Cage, John Barker, Richard Gardiner, Matthias Grebe With great joy I announce the following persons are to be ordained this Petertide (God willing): Sacred Order of Deacon By Bishop Geoffrey on Saturday, 29 June, in the Pro-Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Brussels at 2.30 pm: Mr Richard Gardiner (to serve as assistant curate, St Boniface, Bonn and All Saints, Cologne) Mr Matthias Grebe (to serve as assistant curate, St Boniface, Bonn and All Saints, Cologne) Ms Doreen Cage (to serve as assistant curate, St George’s, Málaga) Mr John Barker (to serve as assistant curate, Christ Church, Vienna with responsibility for Yerevan) The street address for Holy Trinity is: 29 rue Capitaine Crespel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. For further details please contact the Revd Canon Dr Robert Innes on +32 2 511 71 83, or email: chaplain@holytrinity.be Liturgical colour: White Sacred Order of Priest By Bishop Edward Holland as Archbishop of Canterbury’s Episcopal Commiss...

It's a little known act of bravery - how two British priests serving in Christ Church, Vienna, rescued Jews from the Nazis by baptising them.  Between March and September 1938, after the annexation of Austria by the Third Reich, the Revd Hugh Grimes and the Revd Frederick Collard baptised some 1,800 Viennese Jews in the hope that the resulting baptismal certificate would help provide them with safe passage out of the country. At that time, Austria's neighbours, although wary of allowing Jewish refugees to enter, were more prepared to admit those who could demonstrate that they belonged to the Christian religion. The baptismal register of this Church of England parish in Vienna contains this remarkable story. On some days over 100 baptisms were held. On Saturday 18 May, at a service of Evensong in Christ Church, a memorial plaque was unveiled to commemorate the act of courage and compassion shown by these two priests. Testimonies were given by Dr Harold Chipman...

Our curates in their training (title) posts continue with scheduled residential meetings to fulfil the Church of England's requirement for what is known technically as IME 4 - 7. IME 4 - 7 are the 4 years of training for ordained ministry that must be completed after ordination. Thus the full amount of time required to train a priest or deacon in the Church of England is approximately 7 years.  IME 4 - 7 in the Diocese in Europe is delivered under the supervision of the Director of Training, the Revd Canon Ulla Monberg.  Earlier this month the curates came together at St Columba's House in Woking for an extended weekend of Post Ordination Training, focussing on prayer and spirituality. The resource person for this particular set of sessions was the Rvd Dr Mark Godson of the London Centre for Spirituality, who is pictured second from the right above.  What a fine looking group of curates we have!  

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Coronation of Her Majesty the Queen who was crowned in the ancient ceremony which was held in Westminster Abbey on Tuesday 2 June 1953. Churches in the Diocese in Europe may want to mark the anniversary at services on Sunday 2 June. There will be a service from Westminster Abbey televised on BBC on Tuesday 4 June at 11.00 am British Summer Time. The following prayer, which has the Queen’s approval, will be incorporated in the Service of Thanksgiving in the Abbey on 4 June. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have commended it for use throughout the Church of England. It is available in both traditional and modern language, and I commend it for use in congregations of this diocese. Some local adaptation may be required in countries which are clearly outside the realm of England. It could be as simple as omitting the words "of our Sovereign Lady" before "Queen Elizabeth". Traditional language: Almighty God, who ...