Eurobishop

What a rich selection of reading this month: two challenging books about the place of Christian values in modern society; a review of the doctrine of Grace; a study of the relationship between missionand development; a theological reflection on issues of immigration; a look at Evelyn Underhill on Mysticism; a very human portrayal of Pope Benedict XVI,and a fresh angle on John Calvin. There is even some pre-olympic reading: a biography of Eric Liddell. Enough to occupy our post-Easter breaks! Goed lezen! For the reviews press the   read more  button. George Carey andAndrew Carey, We don’t do God ,Monarch Books, ISBN 978-0-85721-030-2, £7.99, (Kindle edition also available). The origins of this book go back to the judgement in April2010 in the case of Gary McFarlane, a Christian who lost his job with themarriage counselling charity Relate because he refused to counsel a same-sexcouple. In his judgement Lord Justice Laws was critical of the evidence offeredby Lord Carey...

Photo: Bev Lloyd-Roberts Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall attended the Eucharist at St Alban's Copenhagen on 25 March. The Prince and the Duchess were visiting Denmark as part of their Royal Highnesses' official overseas celebrations of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.  The Royal Visit coincided with the 125th anniversary of the consecration of St Alban's and the hymns chosen  included some of those sung at the service in 1887. At the conclusion of the service the Chaplain of St Alban's, the Venerable Jonathan LLoyd, showed the Royal Couple the memorial in the Church to Princess Alexandra, the Great Great Grandmother of Prince Charles, with whose patronage and support St Alban's was built 125 years ago.  Photo: Bev Lloyd-Roberts The diocese was well represented at the service. Fr Jonathan is, of course, also Archdeacon of Germany and Northern Europe. Canon Adrian Mumford, the Diocesan Secretary and Honorary Prece...

The Anglican Church of St John the Evangelist in Ghent, Belgium, celebrated a service of Baptism and Confirmation on Mothering Sunday, 18 March. The Church was packed with over 180 people present. The Priest-in-Charge is the Revd Stephen Murray, who came to this diocese from the Diocese of Niagara in Canada. (A very good diocese, by the way!). Fr Stephen also serves the much smaller Church of St George, Knokke, on the coast. It was a poignant Mothering Sunday, given the deaths of so many Belgian children in the bus accident in Switzerland. At the start of the service some young people of St John's lit candles in memory of those who died and prayers were said for them and for their families. Church of England worship in Ghent can be traced back to 1743. A large number of the present members come originally from countries in West Africa, especially Ghana, Nigeria and Liberia. The website of St John's is here . The parish also has an active Facebook presence here .  

On Saturday 17 March I had the joy of presiding at a confirmation service at SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe). SHAPE is located near the Belgian city of Mons and is now the Command Headquarters for all Allied operations worldwide. Several young people were prepared and presented to me by the Church of England Chaplain, Padre Chris Broddle and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Chaplain Padre Ron.     

The Revd Deacon Frances Hiller has confirmed that the funeral of her son Sam Hiller will take place at the Royal Naval College Chapel, Greenwich, at 12 noon on Thursday 29 March. Sam was one of the choral scholars at the Chapel as well a student at Trinity Laban Conservatory of Music and Dance. Deacon Frances wants to express her thanks for the messages of condolence and sympathy that have reached her and the members of her family. She has found it to be a source of great strength to know of the prayers and support from so many friends, colleagues and contacts. All are very welcome to attend the funeral.

For many years our Church in Greece has been working to establish its legal identity in the country. The chaplain of St Paul's in Athens, the Revd Canon Malcolm Bradshaw, recently reported that good progress is now being made towards the recognition, both of St Paul's as a historic building and of the Anglican Church in Greece throughout the country. Our Anglican cooperation with the (Orthodox) Church of Greece, particularly with the Archdiocese of Athens, continues to flourish.   At a recent visit by Bishop Geoffrey, some baptisms, confirmations and receptions into the Church of England were celebrated in St Paul's, including two candidates from daughter congregations in Crete and Thessalonika. Typical of the diocese, the ethnic origins of the candidates were diverse: English, Nigerian, Zimbabwean, Iranian and Greek! 

One of our clergy, the Revd Elaine Labourel, Assistant Priest at St Mark's Versailles and St Paul's Chevry, is active in making Anglicanism known among other Christians in France. Elaine is already well known to readers in training in the diocese as she is their principal tutor for their studies. But she also teaches a course on Anglicanism at the Institut Catholique de Paris, (known in English as the Catholic University of Paris). In cooperation with the Theological Institute of St Sergius and the Protestant Institute of Theology, the Institut Catholique held a colloquium from 6 to 8 March, on the Reception of Vatican II in the Churches. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of that Council of the Roman Catholic Church, by Pope John XXIII. Largely through Elaine's influence, I was invited to give a paper at that colloquium on the effects of Vatican II in Anglicanism.  I called my presentation:  Abattre les murs: Vatican II et la Communion...

It is with great sadness that I inform the people and friends of the Diocese in Europe of the death of Sam Hiller, son of Deacon Frances Hiller my chaplain and assistant. Frances received the news this afternoon of Sam's sudden death earlier in the day.  Please pray for Frances and the family: Sam’s brother and sister Tim and Lotte and their father Simon, that God will grant them comfort in their deep sorrow and strength to meet the days ahead.  And of course, please pray for Sam, that God will receive him in His never-failing love into the rest of everlasting peace.

We welcome the Reverend Thomas Barnfather to this diocese as he takes up the position of Priest-in-Charge of the Anglican Church of St Laurence, Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands. He begins his ministry formally on 1 April. We welcome also his wife, Rosie.  Fr Tom comes to us from the Church of St Saviour, Westgate-on-Sea, in Kent, in the Diocese of Canterbury. There are four congregations in the Anglican parish in Lanzarote, all using Roman Catholic  buildings . There is also a developing work on the neighbouring island of Fuerteventura. The website of St Laurence, Lanzarote is here .

On Sunday 11 March, I accompanied the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Church of San Gregorio al Celio in Rome, which is now a monastery of the Camaldoli. The Camaldoli are a community of monks and nuns, founded by St Romuald, himself a Benedictine monk. They follow the Rule of St Benedict, but combine the ancient dimensions of solitary as well as community life: hermitage and monastery. This year is the 1000th anniversary of their founding.   The Archbishop was hosted at a festive lunch with the community and after gave a lecture on "Monastic Virtues and Ecumenical Hopes". He spoke of the ecumenical significance of monastic communities which are gathered around the Word of God, that  "the monastic ideal is something that stands in opposition to anything that looks like a "tribal" Church. It tells us that the hope of a truly universal reconciliation is only to be found in a Church that is able to look beyond natural affinity and to sustain bonds that are i...

Photo: Matthew Davies ENS On Sunday 11 March, I accompanied our congregation of All Saints in Rome as we attended our sister Church, St Paul's Within-the-Walls Episcopal Church, where the Archbishop of Canterbury presided and preached. Bishop Pierre Whalon of the Convocation of American Churches in Europe hosted us. The Venerable Jonathan Boardman from All Saints, and the Revd Austin Rios the Rector of St Paul's Within-the-Walls, both served as deacons for the Archbishop. Choirs, servers, assistant clergy from both congregations were present as well as visiting Old Catholic clergy. Monsignor Mark Langham from the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Christian Unity and Fr Keith Peckers SJ were two prominent Roman Catholic guests at the service.  

There are seven archdeacons in this Diocese in Europe. To be an archdeacon is a demanding job. They share with the bishops in the oversight of the congregations in their archdeaconry, and as senior priests and pastors, come alongside the congregations, supporting them and giving key leadership in times of change, challenge and even conflict. It is a ministry that needs our prayers and every opportunity for encouragement.  Each year, for several years now, the archdeacons have met together for a time of prayer, reflection and mutual support. This year they met in Rome, hosted by the Archdeacon of Italy and Malta, the Venerable Jonathan Boardman. Some of their wives joined them as they themselves offer steadfast support behind the scenes to their husbands and put up with many prolonged absences!  During their meeting in Rome, they attended the Wednesday General Audience with the Pope.  Of course, one of the most famous Archdeacons in Christian history was St La...

The staff of the Diocesan Office and the Suffragan Bishop's office had a slightly more festive than usual lunch recently to celebrate the appointment of Adrian Mumford as an Honorary Lay Canon of the diocese. Canon Mumford, (second from left), besides being the Diocesan Secretary, is also the Diocesan Organ Advisor and organist at most diocesan services. Fittingly his stall in Holy Trinity Cathedral is that of St Cecilia, the patron of music.

Photo: Juan Carlos Castro The English Cemetery in Las Palmas  was solemnly rehallowed on Friday 2 March following a restoration undertaken and generously financed by the Canary Island Government, a work which cost a total of €91,000. The site was declared part of the cultural and historical patrimony of the island in 2010 as it is a focus of the history of the British families who since the early 19 th century were key figures in Gran Canaria, in many cases contributing significantly to its economic development. The Island’s Minister of Culture, Mr Larry Alvarez, together with other colleagues from the local government were present for the ceremony and is pictured above talking to Holy Trinity Churchwarden, Mrs Betty Burgess, and the Priest-in-Charge, Fr Peter Ford OGS. It is not only the British who were buried here. There are a large number of graves of people from all over the world, signifying what a cross-roads the Canary Islands once were, due to intercontinental shi...

A weekend of joyful celebration of 400 years of Anglican worship in Hamburg was held from Friday 17th to Sunday 19th February, part of a year long programme of concerts, events and services at St Thomas Becket Church entitled “Extending a welcome”. Saturday saw the church packed for a service of thanksgiving led by Bishop Geoffrey and the Chaplain of St Thomas's, the Revd Matthew Jones. Among the many clergy there were the Lutheran Bishop of Hamburg and Lübeck, Kerstin Fehrs, and the Roman Catholic Suffragan Bishop of Hamburg , Hans-Jochen Jaschke. Also present were representatives of the City of Hamburg and a delegation from the Company of Merchant Adventurers of York. It was the Merchant Adventurers who formed the first congregation in 1612 after the Hamburg Senate granted them freedom to worship in English according to the rites of the Church of England. Even taking into account the commercial advantage to the city, it was a remarkable concession in strictly Luth...