Eurobishop

In a joyous celebration on Sunday 25 April, over 90 persons gathered for the inauguration of the Church of the Resurrection, Pera, in Istanbul. This church formed from the growing together of two Turkish speaking congregations, one already part of the diocese in Europe, and another coming from an independent protestant tradition. Following a period of several months of mutual discernment the Church of the Resurrection held their first Annual General Meeting on Sunday 18th April and a Church Council and churchwardens elected. The Revd Engin Yildirim, already a priest of this diocese, is now the priest-in-charge of the Church of the Resurrection, Pera. Turkish-speaking Christians are a small minority in the country and many groups have tended to split apart from one another. The union of two congregations is therefore significant and marks a maturing in the life of the indigenous Turkish Church. The Anglican Church offers a place where Turkish Christians can find a home that is rooted ...

The Bishop of Durham, Dr N. Tom Wright, has announced that he will resign from the See of Durham on 31 August this year. He will be returning to academic life as he takes up the position of Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Bishop Tom Wright is well known for his theological writing, both academic and popular. He is considered to be one of the world's foremost New Testament scholars. As I travel around the diocese I note that almost all our clergy and readers are familiar with and use Bishop Tom's work, particularly his biblical commentaries, including the popular For Everyone series. He admits that the decision to return to academic life was the hardest decision of his life. It will however allow him to concentrate on his research, teaching, writing and broadcasting. The bench of bishops in England will miss Bishop Tom. The Archbishop of Canterbury said that Bishop Tom, "has given generously of hi...

On Friday 23 April, St George's Day, the first Anglican service in Puerto de Mogán, Gran Canaria was held. For some time now, the priest-in-charge, Fr Peter Ford OGS, who is based at Holy Trinity Las Palmas over an hour away, has been planning to open a worship centre in this southern town on the island where many British come on holiday. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Gran Canaria has kindly offered the use of the Church of San Fernando (above) for our eucharists. The first celebration got off to an encouraging start with a congregation of 14. Plans are to have a service every Friday at noon, with time for fellowship at a lunch following. We wish the parish of Gran Canaria every blessing on this new outreach venture. The parish website is here . In addition, Fr Ford has a blog entitled News from Paradise .

This is part 3 of a series of some answers I gave to questions from leaders of a free evangelical congregation in Europe who were interested bringing their people into the Anglican Church. They asked about the wearing of robes. They had seen somewhere that "the minister served in a man's suit" and wanted to know about what was required in the Anglican tradition. It is a question that arises from time to time, and not only among new Anglicans. This is part of my answer.... The matter of vestments or robes is a simple one. The norm in the Church of England is that for the public, statutory services of the Church the customary robes are worn by the clergy and readers (licensed lay ministers). The robes are intended to emphasise the office or role of the leaders in worship. They de-emphasise the personality or the personal wardrobe taste (which after all can be good or bad) of the person leading worship. The robe of the secular business world (for men, the suit) is no...

It is not often that a bishop gets to induct one of his former teachers into a parish. Last Saturday afternoon, in the presence of ecumenical guests and visiting clergy, I licensed the Revd Canon Harold Nahabedian to be priest-in-charge of St Alban's Strasbourg. He is pictured above taking the oaths on the bible held by the Revd Christine Bloomfield, the Assistant Curate at St Alban's. Other ministers in the parish include reader David Cowley. Bishop Venuste Mutiganda originally from Rwanda and Deacon Sangi Mansita from Angola have permission to officiate (both are pictured below). I first knew Fr Harold 32 years ago when he was chaplain at Trinity College Toronto where I was a student of divinity. I owe much of my own formation as a priest to his support and direction, particularly in the area of liturgics. Fr Harold comes to us after his retirement as rector of St Mary Magdalene's Church in Toronto, a multicultural parish with an outstanding liturgical and musica...

At the French Archdeaconry Synod last week, the Revd Tony Jewiss was licensed as assistant priest (NSM) in the chaplaincy of Midi Pyrénées & Aude. Fr Jewiss should feel at home in our international diocese, as he was born in England, grew up in New Zealand, and has served as a priest in the dioceses of Los Angeles and Long Island in the USA. He has been a bishop's chaplain, and has also worked in the central office of the Episcopal Church in New York. At the same service Bishop Geoffrey licensed the Revd June Hutchinson as assistant priest in the parish, signifying that she has successfully completed her years of post ordination training and now moves on from being an assistant curate. The parish of Midi Pyrénées & Aude covers an area twice the size of Wales and has 6 congregations. At the time of writing I am happy to be able to say that a new chaplain has been chosen and is presently in the final stages of appointment. There will be an a...

The Anglican congregation in Gozo is one of the newer congregations of the diocese and has just celebrated 5 years of formal organisation, although Anglican services have been held in Gozo since the mid 1970s. Dedicated to "Our Lady the Blessed Virgin Mary and St George the Martyr", it is one of 3 congregations of the Anglican Church in Malta and Gozo, served by the Chancellor of St Paul's Pro-Cathedral in Valletta, Canon Simon Godfrey and the chaplain of Holy Trinity Sliema, the Revd Jeff Williams, and Mr David Felgate, licensed reader in the parish. On Wednesday 14th April, I presided at the anniversary eucharist wich was held in the magnificent St George's Roman Catholic Basilica in Victoria (see photo below). Three of the clergy of the Basilica, including Archpriest Mgr Pawlu Cardona (who read the Gospel), were present, a sign of the warm ecumenical relations between Anglicans and  Roman Catholics on the island. Warm congratulations to the congregation of Ou...

Photo credit: Mzzur/catholicchurch.org.uk The Church of England launched a campaign today to encourage "people with a very big heart" to stand for election.to the General Synod. The present Synod will be dissolved at the end of the July 2010 group of sessions in York and a new Synod will be elected for a five-year term in September/October and inaugurated in November.  There are 378 lay and clergy members, plus the house of bishops. The Diocese in Europe has two clergy and two lay members as well as Bishop Geoffrey. Our present members are the Revd Canon Debbie Flach, the Very Revd Jonathan Boardman, (Lay) Canon Ann Turner and Mr Roger Fry.  Resources have been produced, under the slogan "Be Part of the Big Picture", for those who may be interested in standing for election. Included is a five-minute video filmed at General Synod in February 2010, featuring contributions from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Business Committee chair Preb Kay G...

Here is April's book selection. Once again thanks to Dr Martin Davie, the Theological Secretary to the Bishops of the Church of England, for these helpful reviews. If you wish to keep up with current theology the selection here is a good place to start. This month a wide range of subjects is covered: liturgy, Pauline writings, Christology, pastoral theology, apologetics, ethics and social teaching, and spirituality. Of particular note is the new book by the Revd Dr Charlotte Methuen, a former Director of Training in this diocese. 10 reviews are below. Just click on the read more link. Bonne lecture!

On Friday 9 April about 150 people crowded into St Andrew's in Fuengirola for a Memorial Eucharist for the Revd Dr Lindy Jordan. Deacon Lindy was the assistant curate in Costa del Sol East who died due to complications following surgery last 23 January. The service was attended by Lindy's sister Dinah and by several of Lindy's colleagues among the clergy in Spain, including priests from the Finnish and Norwegian Churches, and the Revd Dr Ian McIntosh, the Principal of the Eastern Region Ministry Course, where Lindy trained for ordination. Once, when preparing for her selection conference for ministry in the Church of England, Lindy was asked to state what she believed to be the heart of the Gospel. She said: "Jesus's sacrifice opened up to us the eternal kingdom which is the object and hope of our journey." May the Risen Lord bring Lindy to that eternal kingdom.

It was a special Easter for 6 children in the parish of St Paul's Monaco who received their first Holy Communion on Easter Day. The children pictured are pictured here with their certificates marking the completion of their preparation programme. St Paul's Monaco is one of the congregations of the diocese which have asked permission to admit baptised children to Communion before Confirmation. In the Church of England, children who have been baptised but who have not yet been confirmed and who are not yet ready and desirous to be confirmed as required by paragraph 1(a) of Canon B15A may be admitted to Holy Communion provided that certain regulations are satisfied. Please note that the guidelines in the Diocesan Handbook and on the diocesan website are now out of date as there have been new regulations issued in 2006. I will ensure that the new regulations appear on the website as soon as possible along with the diocesan form to apply or permission for this provision in...

Haleloia! Haleloia! Haleloia! Voavono Kristy - Paska ho antsika, Ka dia aoka isika hanao andro firavoravoana. The Easter anthems - Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us, therefore let us keep the feast - resounded through the congregation of over 150 Malgaches who joined in their Easter Eucharist at St George's Paris. This community, fully part of St George's and led by a catechist Nicolas Razafindratsima, worships in Malgache (and French) once a month. It was a joy to preside and preach at their service, the sixth liturgy during my weekend at the parish! The other liturgies were celebrated in English (with one of the readings always in French) with congregations which were very diverse in make-up. On Easter morning the servers who attended me were Iranian, Mauritian, Kenyan and English. At the Easter vigil candidates for baptism and confirmation were English, Italian-English, Vietmamese-English, Malgache, Nigerian, and Kenyan. Fr Matthew ...

The following is an extract of a report written by Claudine Haenni Dale, the Anglican Communion's Main Representative to the UN in Geneva, about the Anglican Peace and Justice Network (APJN) meeting which was held in our diocese a couple of weeks ago. APJN is one of the most important networks of our Communion. Networks, unlike commissions of the Communion, have to be self-funded. Nevertheless, this particular one focusses on matters which are close to the heart of the Church's mission to the poor and marginalised. The parish of Holy Trinity Geneva, where Claudine is a member (and trainee reader) played a major role in hosting the event and welcoming the international delegates to Geneva, who, from the report, clearly felt at home with us. It is a privilege that the APJN met in our diocese and we are pleased indeed that Claudine is closely connected with its work. She is pictured above administering Holy Communion to the Revd Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the General Secretary of the...

In his ecumenical Easter Letter to fellow church leaders, the Archbishop of Canterbury urges Christians living in relatively comfortable environments to offer practical support as well as prayers for the many suffering Christians around the world, particularly in Zimbabwe, Mosul (Iraq), Egypt and Nigeria. At the same time Archbishop Rowan reminds those of us who live in relative peace and security but who may be concerned about secularising trends in society that “We need to keep our own fears in perspective. It is all too easy to become consumed with anxiety about the future of the Church and society. We need to need to witness boldly and clearly but not with anger or fear; we need to show that we believe what we say about the Lordship of the Risen Christ and his faithfulness to the world he came to redeem” For the full text of the letter follow the read more link

St George's Madrid hosted one of the three Chrism Masses held in the diocese this Holy Week. Clergy and lay ministers from the parishes of Lisbon, Costa del Sol East, Costa Almeria and Costa Calida, Costa Ahazar, Gibraltar, Madrid, and Tenerife South gathered for this liturgy where vows of ministerial service are renewed and the three sacred oils (for the sick, catechumens and chrism) are blessed for distribution to the congregations of the diocese. The Dean of Gibraltar, the Very Revd Dr John Paddock preached, applying some insights from the Spanish mystics, St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross, to the disciplined life of bishops, priests, deacons and lay ministers. Both the Archdeacon of Gibraltar, the Venerable David Sutch, and the Area Dean of Gibraltar, the Revd Canon Hugh Broad were among the clergy taking part. There was also a significant ecumenical presence including the Revd Dr Mariano Perron, the Ecumenical Officer of the (RC) Archdiocese of Madrid, ...