Eurobishop

Reader John Matthews When a parish is awaiting the appointment of a new priest it can be a trying and anxious time. Very often the spiritual leadership falls upon a Reader if a parish is lucky enough to count on such an authorised lay minister. All Saints  Vendée in France is seeking a new priest-in-charge. While the search continues, Reader John Matthews wrote the following in the parish magazine, to encourage his fellow parishioers and remind them of their own vital ministry at this time. It is a helpful reflection for any of our congregations going through this "in-between time" and I am grateful to John for his permission to share his thoughts on this blog: In St Luke's Gospel chapter 5 Jesus calls Simon Peter, James and John as disciples. All were fishermen and Jesus tells them 'Don't be afraid, from now on you will be catching people'.  I suspect that not many of us in All Saints Vendée are fishermen, so what do you regard as your major strength, ...

The Fifth Mark of Mission acknowledged by Anglicans – “to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth” – is sometimes seen as the neglected Mark across the Communion. Lent 2012 offers an opportunity to redress this, with the help of a course coming out of the work of the Bible in the Life of the Church project of the Communion. The five-week course will enable individuals and groups to engage with a Bible-wide range of scriptural passages that speak of our responsibilities in relation to the environment. It will also offer reflections on how Anglicans in different parts of the Communion engage with the Bible with discussion questions that challenge our thinking and behaviour. The course will be available both on the web, and as a booklet. It will be available by Advent this year, but you are able to sample the course on line and order booklets for use in 2012. The Anglican Communion Standing Commit...

Apostoli Delegation with the Archbishop The world may be looking at the economic difficulties facing Greece which may possibly have to default on some of its debt. Meanwhile, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Athens and the Church of England are committed to learn from each other and cooperate on matters of social outreach to the poor and marginalised. Last week, a high level delegation from the Archdiocese of Athens spent several days visiting schools, programmes and outreach projects of the Diocese of London. The delegation was led by Mr Constantine Dimtsas the Director General of Apostoli, the Archdiocese’s welfare programme, and included Dr Vassi Leontari, the Director of Programmes and International Co-operation, Dr Vasilis Meichanetsidis, the Ecumenical Officer of the Archdiocese, and Mr Emilios Polygenis, the Director of the Orthodox News Agency, Romfea .  On Thursday 22 nd February I took the delegation to meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury.   Dr Rowan ...

September sees the start-up of Church life in many of the congregations across our Diocese in Europe. To get the theological juices flowing after the summer period, here are reviews of 10 books. You will find interesting and important works on Christology, Liturgy and Worship, Ecology, Evangelism, Priesthood and Church leadership and more. Góður   lestur! (recently back from Iceland!) Click on the read more link for the reviews.

Canon Greenacre (right) at a ecumenical gathering in Beaulieu-sur-mer A requiem mass for the Revd Canon Dr Roger Greenacre was celebrated on Friday 23 September in Chichester Cathedral. Canon Greenacre, was a residentiary canon of Chichester Cathedral for 25 years, from 1975 to 2000. Prior to that he was chaplain of St George's Paris, and from 2000 to 2010 was priest-in-charge of St Michael's Beaulieu-sur-mer. He died in July. Clergy from the Diocese in Europe, Chichester, and elsewhere in the Church of England, members of the Order of St Lazarus, and Roman Catholic guests from the Abbeys of Bec-Hellouin and Chevetogne were present at the service. The Archbishop of Canterbury sent a message describing "the life of a priest of rare quality". Archbishop Rowan noted the important work of Fr Roger in building bridges between Anglicans and Roman Catholics, especially on the continent of Europe. Among his many gifts to the Church is an invaluable guide to the Roman Ca...

The Diocese in Europe Deanery Synod of Germany met on 23 - 24 September in Munich, preceded by the semi-annual clergy chapter meeting on Thursday 22nd.  Uniquely in the Anglican Communion, the C of E  deanery clergy and parish representatives meet with the representatives of The Episcopal Church parishes in Germany in a body called the Council of Anglican Episcopal Churches in Germany (CAECG). This year's meetings were at Schloss Furstenried Exerzitienhaus, a Roman Catholic retreat house on the outskirts of the city. The Pope, who arrived on Friday in Berlin, is a former student at this retreat house. Apart from the usual business of synod, the Reverend Carola von Wrangel, Rector of Christ The King Episcopal Church in Frankfurt, led reflections on conflict and conflict resolution in the Church, under the theme:   "Conflict? We don't have no stinkin' conflict!".  Bishop Dr Matthias Ring of the Old Catholic Church of Germany sent warm gre...

Bishop Kristján talks to one of his priests. In the background, his Cathedral On Sunday 18 September,  Kristján Valur Ingólfsson  was consecrated Bishop of  Skálholt, Iceland. S kálholt is the site of the first Icelandic bishopric, established in 1056 by  Ísleifur Gissurarson, a priest from a noble family in the area. Ísleifur reportedly travelled with a polar bear as a gift for the Holy Roman Emperor, then on to Rome to have his nomination as bishop approved, and then to Bremen to be consecrated by the Archbishop. Besides his Cathedral, he also built the first school in Iceland in  Skálholt.  In the 19th century, the Danish authorities (Denmark ruled Iceland at that time) moved the seat of the diocesan bishop to Reykjavik and the ancient sees of  Skálholt and Holar became suffragan sees. Bishop Kristján formerly taught theology at the university and was the rector of the Church at Thingvellir, the site of the founding of the a...

Window, Holy Trinity Brussels The Revd Canon Peter Montgomery Duplock OBE, (born 1916) died on Friday 16 September in a nursing home in Hindhead, England. Canon Duplock had a distinguished ministry in this Diocese in Europe, serving first in Holy Trinity Geneva from 1964 - 1971 and then in Brussels with Charleroi and Liège from 1971-1981. In 1979 he was instrumental in establishing All Saints, Waterloo, as a daughter Church of Holy Trinity Brussels. (All Saints is now in the (US) Convocation of Episcopal Churches). He was also the Archdeacon of NW Europe in 1981 just before he retired. May God grant his faithful servant the peace and joy of paradise.

There are currently two vacancies for priests in the the parish of the Holy Spirit, Costa Blanca, Spain, one full-time position and one part-time. In brief, the packages on offer are: Full-time : 3  double-bedroomed house, car, annual stipend of c24,000€, C of E pension contributions and Spanish Social Security Part-time : 3 double-bedroomed house, car, 6,000€ per annum, no pension contributions paid. This is one of the most active parishes in the Diocese, consisting of 8 congregations along the spectacular Mediterranean coast from Valencia to just south of Alicante. When fully staffed, the ministry team, headed by the Senior Chaplain, the Revd Peter Edwards, consists of 3 priests (two full-time and one part time) and a reader, with assistance from a number of retired clergy. If you are a priest who would enjoy active collegial team ministry, enthusiastic lay support, warm ecumenical relations, in very congenial geographic surroundings, then you may wish to ha...

Fr Matthew Jones, far left; Archdeacon Jonathan LLoyd, second from right On Saturday 16 September, in a joyous celebration with a significant ecumenical presence, Father Matthew Jones was licensed as Chaplain of the Anglican Church of St Thomas a Becket, Hamburg. The Archdeacon of Germany and Northern Europe, the Venerable Jonathan LLoyd presided and preached at the service at which clergy representing the Roman Catholic Church, the German Lutheran Church, the Church of Finland, Church of Sweden and the Hamburg Council of Churches took part.   A video clip  which has some shots of the service, but more importantly, an interview with Fr Matthew Jones,  can be found here .  The new chaplain reflects on moving from Australia to Germany, and his expectations about the challenges and joys of ministry in Hamburg. St Thomas's Church is celebrating 400 years next year and Fr Matthew sees this as an important opportunity, not only to reflect on that past history, but t...

From 29 August to 2 September in Neustadt/Weinstrasse, Germany close to 50 scholars from the Old Catholic and Anglican Churches gathered for a conference on "Ecclesiology and Mission in Today's Europe". Papers were presented on aspects of the nature of the Church (ecclesiology), the way the Church lives her life in obedience to Our Lord's mandate (missiology), and the challenges for Christians and Christian identity in modern Europe. In addition, some participants presented their own current areas of research. Among those was the Revd Mark Collinson, the Area Dean of the Netherlands, and the Chaplain of Christ Church, Amsterdam (pictured above). Mark shared his work under the theme "Making a Dwelling in Europe", in which he is exploring some aspects of the Anglican presence on the European Continent. Mark raises some challenges for our Church as to how  we can be more  incarnational  in our life and mission, expressing more fully our connection to the l...

It seems a long way away, but clergy and readers and others in the congregations of the diocese who may be planning study groups and programmes for Advent, may wish to look at a resource produced by St John's Nottingham. These Words of Mine... are a set of daily bible readers and reflections written by members of the St John's College community, which aim to help us examine ourselves in the light of Jesus' teachign in teh Sermon on theMount and in the Book of James. It is produced by students and staff of the College. Copies are £4.99. Information and orders can be placed by contacting Helen Taylor at St John's:  h.taylor@stjohns-nottm.ac.uk St John's Nottingham is the theological centre where our readers are trained, through their extension programme.

I will be taking some leave from the 2nd until the 16th of September (with the exception of 12th to 14th when I have unavoidable meetings!) Do not expect too many blog updates during this time. My chaplain  Deacon Frances Hiller  (+44 (0) 20 7898 1161), or the staff at the  diocesan office  (+44 (0) 020 7898 1155) are able to get messages to me in case of urgent need. ¡Hasta luego!