International and Ecumenical Ministry in Trondheim

The 800 year old Vor Frue Church (Church of Our Lady) in Trondheim was the venue for confirmations on Sunday 28 February. The joy of the occasion was enhanced when, at the end of the service one of the confirmands, James, announced to the congregation (and to his surprised mother) that he was going to be married to his girlfriend Stine. He then presented her with a ring! The happy couple are pictured below.

The Anglican congregation in Trondheim is now over 40 years old, and is a community of many nationalities, including many international students as Trondheim is an important university town. On Sunday the congregation included members from England, Norway, South Africa, Cameroon, Nigeria, Czech Republic, Liberia, Germany, Singapore and Scotland.

Trondheim is the spiritual heart of Norway; the cathedral is the resting place of St Olav (martyred in 1030) and an ancient centre for pilgrimage, now increasingly being revived.

The Revd Mary Strømmen is the priest in charge of the Anglican congregation. She maintains excellent relations with the Bishop and Dean of Trondheim and other clergy of the Church of Norway, with whom we are in communion through the Porvoo Agreement. My pastoral visit included some time with the Sub Dean of the cathedral, the Revd Ragnhild Jepsen, who is one of several priests of the Church of Norway with Permission to Officiate in the Anglican Church. Mary is also assisted in the congregation by Reader Priscilla Beck.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Farewell to the Diocese in Europe

Image
Deacon Frances and I packed up our office yesterday and turned over our official files, emails and equipment. Thus a close working together for 22 years comes to an end. So it is hard to believe that today, St David's day, a new chapter begins, after 44 years of stipendiary ministry, 22 years as deacon then priest and 22 as a bishop.  Here are just a few memories from the last couple of months...   But now it is time to begin a new chapter.  O God, by whose command the order of time runs its course: forgive our impatience, perfect our faith and, while we await the fulfilment of your promise, grant us to have a good hope because of your Word,  even Jesus Christ our Lord. (St Gregory Nazianzus, 330 - 390)
Read more

Archbishop of Canterbury's Pentecost Letter: A European Consequence

Image
In his Pentecost letter, the Archbishop of Canterbury warned of certain consequences for provinces of the Anglican Communion which have failed to stand by the three moratoria . (No authorisation of blessings services for same-sex unions; no consecrations of bishops living in same-sex relationships; and no bishop authorising any ministry within the diocese of another bishop without explicit permission). One consequence would be that representatives from such provinces w ould not be able to participate in the formal international interchurch dialogues of the Communion. One of those dialogues is the Anglican-Old Catholic International Co-ordinating Council ( AOCICC ), the official instrument set up to deepen the relationship of communion established in 1931 between the Anglican Communion and the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht . As the member Churches of the Union of Utrecht are all European, the AOCICC is effectively a European body. (I am one of the members, appo...
Read more

Bishop Austin Rios of California

Image
It was a joyful, colourful, multicultural three-hour liturgy. At Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, the Revd Austin Rios was consecrated the bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of California. I have known Austin from his time as the Rector of St Paul's Episcopal Church in Rome, where he was a great friend and collaborator with our own Church of England All Saints Chaplaincy in that city. The liturgy, appropriately, marked the multiculural make-up of the diocese, with prayers, readings, hymns and songs in English, Spanish, Tagalog, Tonga and Mandarin. The final procession was led by a Chinese dragon! I was told that there were about 300 in the procession and 2000 present in the beautiful gothic cathedral on Nob Hill San Francisco. My good friend and ecuenical colleague from Rome Fr Keith Peckers SJ was also in attenance, so the Church of Rome and the Church of England were both represented! Among the bishop friends present were Bishop Mark Edington of the Episcopal Convocation in Europe, a...
Read more