Eurobishop

The Revd Barbara Moss (left) and the Revd Canon Malcolm Bradshaw The Revd Barbara Moss of Gothenburg (and Area Dean of the Nordic and Baltic states) and Revd Canon Malcolm Bradshaw of the Greater Athens Anglican Chaplaincy (and Area Dean of the Balkans and Turkey) had a challenging ten days in July as they shared in a consultation with twenty four other senior parish priests at St George’s House, Windsor Castle. The consultation was entitled ‘God: Some Conversations. How to speak about God?’ It was a rigorous programme. Each morning began with worship at 7.30 in St George’s Chapel, followed by groups for bible study, facilitated by a theologian. The biblical passage studied was linked to the particular theme explored during the day: Today’s Church, Equality, Childhood, Literature and the Arts, Drugs policy, Finance/Economics or Assisted Dying.  By 10.00 am the group was reviewing a book or a film focused on the theme of the day such as ‘Easter’ by Michael Arditti o...

On 19 August, the Reverend Stephen Hazlett was licensed to the position of Port Chaplain for the Missions to Seafarers, Rotterdam. Fr Hazlett, originally from Belfast, has most recently been serving as an industrial chaplain, based at Sunderland Minster in the Diocese of Durham. Stephen will be very busy:  Rotterdam is the largest and busiest port in Europe. But he will also give occasional service to St Mary's Church in Rotterdam. We welcome Stephen and his wife Hazel to his new position with Mission to Seafarers within our Diocese.

I will be taking some leave from the 20th to 31st August. 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!

A reminder that the Church of England, including this Diocese in Europe, has endorsed the observance of a "Time for Creation", which runs from 1 September to 4 October. 1 September is the first day of the church year for the Orthodox Christians who start that day with a commemoration of how God created the world. 4 October is the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, when many western Churches, including the Church of England commemorate St Francis of Assisi, a lover of God's creation.  St Francis is the author of a famous Canticle which is found in our Common Worship: Daily Prayer, as Canticle 85 on age 641. During this "time of creation" we are encouraged to give particular focus to environmental issues. This year the focus is sustainable energy.  The World Council of Churches has assembled a list of resources for sermon and liturgy preparation, including material suitable for Harvest Festivals. They can be accessed here.  Our  Diocesan Environmental Offi...

A vacancy in our delegates to General Synod was created by the resignation of the Revd Canon Ian Hutchinson-Cervantes, who is leaving St George's Madrid in September, to take up a new post in Chichester diocese. The Presiding Officer for elections in the diocese, Mr Aiden Hargreaves-Smith, has confirmed that the  vacancy been filled by the Revd Canon Dr Gary Wilton (pictured above). Canon Wilton is the Archbishop of Canterbury's Representative to the EU, and is an assistant priest at Holy Trinity Pro-Cathedral in Brussels. He joins the remaining 3 delegates, the Revd Canon Debbie Flach, Canon Ann Turner, and Mrs Madeleine Holmes. We thank Canon Hutchinson-Cervantes for serving the diocese in this way for the last year and a half, and pray for Canon Wilton as he takes up this representative role.

15 August is the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Christians have celebrated this day since at least the 5th Century. It is known by several titles. Eastern Christians refer to  The  Dormition of Our Lady. The Anglican Church of Canada calls it  T he  Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary . For Roman Catholics and others, the feast is known as The  Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary . The Church of England title is simple:  The Blessed Virgin Mary and   was chosen to avoid doctrinal controversy! 50 years ago when the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church was convened, one of the hot topics debated was whether to produce a document on Mary. In the end it was decided to say something about Mary, not in a separate statement, but as part of the fuller ecclesiological document, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (known by its the Latin title Lumen Gentium). A vital truth is contained in this decision: Mary's place is among ...

We have discovered that the wisdom and experience of the Revd Canon Malcolm Bradshaw of St Paul's in Athens, related to managing the chaplaincy for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, has found its way into the management of the chaplaincy for the 2012 London games. The plans, procedures and structures that Fr Malcolm put in place in 2004 were referred to in an article written for the The Baptist Times  by the Revd John Boyers who assisted Fr Malcolm at the Athens Games and who is part of the chaplaincy team at London 2012. We are delighted that the vast amount of work that Fr Malcolm undertook over 8 years ago has been found to be useful to those who had to devise a plan for chaplaincy in the London games. In this small but important way, our Diocese, through Fr Malcolm's experience, has contributed to the way that the athletes and their entourages are cared for pastorally at London 2012. There are around 160 chaplains serving both the Olympics and the Paralympics. ...

From time to time I spotlight a current vacancy for a priest in the diocese. One interesting position is currently vacant: St John the Evangelist, Casablanca.  (Although we are the Diocese in Europe , two of our parishes are actually in Morocco, the other being St Andrew's, Tangier). St John’s is an active Church, serving the English-speaking foreign community in Casablanca. Members include Americans, British, Filipinos, Koreans, Australians, South Africans and people from many Sub-Saharan African countries. If you are a priest who has   a breadth of pastoral and cross-cultural experience an ability to provide worship in the broadly evangelical tradition while remaining inclusive to a wide spectrum of the Anglican Communion a commitment to ecumenical engagement a sensitivity for the unique context of the ministry of a historic Church in a Muslim land you may wish to look closely at this opportunity. The package includes a stipend of 200,000 Moroccan Di...

In late June I gave a lecture in Santander, Spain, about Vatican II and its ecumenical impact. Following the lecture there was a lively discussion among the mostly Roman Catholic audience. They recognised that one of the main differences between Anglicans and Roman Catholics is the place of laity and clergy, as well as of bishops, in the governance of the Church. The Church of England, like the Roman Catholic Church, is an episcopal church, and share a common understanding of the ministry of bishops. But the government of the Church of England is not by bishops alone, but by bishops  in synod.  Which brings me to an important observation: We are at a key moment in the three year cycle of the governance of our Diocese. There are  just 3 weeks left for nominations to be made for the new sessions of Diocesan Synod which will run for 3 years from 2013-2015. Elections will be held for both the House of Laity and the House of Clergy. Elected members are l...

With the Olympic Games in full swing you might find you have less time to devote to reading. Nevertheless here are 9 reviews of some new theological works. There is (yet another) study of  Fresh Expressions, two theological reflections on economic issues, some Church History, spirituality, and a couple of big names in theology: Jurgen Moltmann and Timothy Radcliffe. Also, a book that is sure to provoke some reaction in its new approach to the current human sexuality debate...  Felix lectio!    For the reviews press the   read more  button.