Eurobishop

A united voice has emerged across the Christian Church in calling the faithful to observe a "World Day of Prayer for all Creation" on 1 September. The initiative was that of His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew back in 1989. He was followed by His Holiness Pope Francis after the publication of the papal encyclical Laudato Si' earlier this year. Then Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa called on Anglicans everywhere to join Orthodox, Roman Catholic  and other Christians in observing a World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on 1 September. (Archbishop Makgoba is chair of the international Anglican Communion Environmental Network). Archbishop Thabo Makgoba The Church of England has now followed these Church leaders and last week our “lead bishop” for the environment, Nicholas Holtam of Salisbury, called on congregations to fast and pray for the care of creation on September 1. (Actually, in this Diocese i...

Where is this church? Somerset? Wiltshire? Actually Copenhagen! St Alban´s Church, looking very English, is in a peaceful corner in the centre of the Danish capital. Although very English in style, and often referred to as "the English Church", there are 28 different nationalities on the electoral roll of this vibrant parish. Last weekend was a busy one for St Alban's with the annual fête on what ended up to be a gloriously sunny Saturday, which brought crowds to the event to buy English language books, British food delicacies, or enjoy a barbecue and beer and watch a performance of some traditional British dances from a bygone era. The organisation of the fête would be enough for one weekend, but on top of that, I happened by to confirm and receive several candidates on Sunday. And it was also a new organist's first Sunday on the job! Photo courtesy of St Alban's Webmaster The candidates came from English, Nigerian, English/Indian, Nigerian/Dan...

Fr Ken Dimmick with some of his pilgrims "To Caunterbury they wende"... so says Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales. And off to Canterbury, from Stuttgart and Freiburg, went a group of pilgrims last week, led by the Revd Canon Ken Dimmick. Fr Ken is priest-in-charge of St Catherine's Stuttgart and is Area Dean of Germany. The pilgrims spent time worshipping at the Cathedral and touring the venerable building with its shrine to the martyrdom of St Thomas Becket. They also visited other sites in the area, including St Martin's Church which St Augustine used as his mission headquarters upon his arrival in England from Rome in 597, and the ruins of the abbey he founded.  The Ven Jonathan LLoyd I was invited to join the pilgrims for Evensong on the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and for a splendid dinner afterwards. The former Archdeacon of Germany and Northern Europe, the Venerable Jonathan LLoyd, who is now a parish priest in Canterbury diocese, was another...

The Revd Canon Malcolm Bradshaw of St Paul's Anglican Church in Athens, continues to report on the influx of migrants and refugees into the city. Most are arriving in the capital after a journey from the Greek islands such as Kos, a popular destination for British tourists, just a half-hour sea crossing from Turkey. Many arrive in small dinghies. It is true say that the Greek government is not prepared for such numbers. 7000 are on the tiny island of Kos alone. In the early morning, Fr Malcolm, with his colleague Captain Polis Pantelidis of the Salvation Army, visit the migrants to distribute milk and sandwiches. It is not long, however, before the arrival of the traffickers, and desperate migrants and refugees begin haggling with them about the cost of the next part of the journey, which could be a coach to the Macedonian border, or 3 nights stay in Athens while (false) documents and sorted for entry into Germany or Scandinavia. Human trafficker (in green) negotiati...

Some clergy of the Diocese of Visby outside St Mary's Cathedral; Deacon Ulf Kundler (centre) is known to many in the Diocese in Europe "Spiritual Hearths and Movable Altars" was the theme for the priests and deacons meeting of the Diocese of Visby, Sweden. Visby is twinned with our own Diocese in Europe within the Porvoo Communion of Churches. It is a diocese divided into two parts: the historic parishes on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, plus the communities of the Church of Sweden Abroad (SKUT). It is because of SKUT that Visby makes a logical partner for our own Diocese in Europe, even though SKUT covers the whole world beyond Sweden, not just continental Europe and Morocco. Statue of Our Lady in Visby Cathedral Gotland itself has 93 parish churches which were built between 1100 and 1350, most of which have many well preserved medieval features, wall paintings, reredoses, fonts and roods. The cathedral is dedicated to St Mary and was dedicated in 1...

The deadline for nominations for those who wish to stand for election to General Synod is fast approaching. Nominations will close at at 16.00 hours, London time, on Friday 28 August. So you're thinking of standing for Synod there are just two weeks to act! In clear recognition of our growing diocese, in addition to the Diocesan Bishop we are now entitled to 3 lay delegates and 3 clergy delegates to General Synod. This is an increase of 1 in each of these houses. Any serving clergy or retired clergy with permission to officiate and any communicant lay person who is on a church electoral roll and is 18 or above can stand. There is no need for lay candidates to be on a church council, deanery/archdeaconry or diocesan synod. The General Synod is the legislative body for the Church of England. Past members from our Diocese in Europe have found this to be both a rewarding and important role, so if you are eligible, do give this prayerful consideration! Details of how to to go...

St Mary's Church in Didim, on the Turkish Aegean coast, is mourning the death of one of its members. Several days ago, Jan Bennett, was brutally attacked and murdered while walking her dogs close to her home in the village of Malomir in rural Bulgaria. Her body had then been set alight, Jan and her husband also keep a home on the Turkish coast where she was a regular member and parish secretary of St Mary's Didim. The esteem with which Jan was held in the Didim area is demonstrated by the fact that the local Alevi community are holding a service of mourning for her this evening, to which the Parish Council has been invited. (The Alevis are a religious minority group in Turkey). On Sunday 9 August the 11 am Eucharist of St Mary's Church will be a memorial for Jan. St Mary's is a congregation of the diocese, linked to St John the Evangelist Church in Izmir. It has a distinctively ecumenical ministry. English speaking Christians from many backgrounds attend the se...

The Revd Dana English One of the priests of our diocese, the Revd Dana English, was instrumental in the organisation and leadership of a recent successful course held at the Anglican Centre in Rome. Dana is Assistant Curate at All Saints in Rome. The course was entitled "Female Leadership in the Church: Past, Present and Future". It was Dana's inspiration and initiative to hold such a course. She collaborated with the Revd Dr Lucy Morris from Perth, Australia in the design of the programme. 30 people, ordained and lay, from 15 different countries around the Anglican Communion attended the course which ran from 19 to 25 July. Rome is an ideal venue to reflect on the role of women in the Church. For a start so many early martyrs in Rome were women who left a lasting spiritual heritage with the Christian community and whose memory we still celebrate today: St Agnes, St Prisca and St Sabina, for instance. The programme at the Anglican Centre was able to use the exampl...

Following on yesterday's blog post on the migrants in Athens, here are instructions about how to donate to the emergency needs which are being coordinated by the Revd Canon Malcolm Bradshaw, the Senior Chaplain in Athens. Donations can be sent to: The Diocese in Europe Attention Nick Wraight - Finance Officer 14 Tufton Street London, SW1P 3QZ Please mark the donation: Migrant Emergency Needs - Athens Money may be transferred directly in to the diocesan bank account (details below). Please inform the Finance Officer if you are contributing in this way, so that the destination of the gift is clear. Barclays Bank plc, 27 Soho Square, London, W1D 3QR, United Kingdom Account name:                        Diocese in Europe Fund Bank sort code:                       20-06-05 Account number:                    403...

The Senior Chaplain of Athens, Canon Malcolm Bradshaw, continues his engagement with ecumenical partners in attending to the needs of the growing numbers of migrants and refugees in the country. Fr Malcolm describes this as a "fast changing scene along with a sense of melt-down", politically and economically. The word on the street is that 2 million people are heading towards Greece! On Saturday, Fr Malcolm assisted the Salvation Army in the delivery of sandwiches and mild to the approximately 800 families of Afghans who are now encamped in central Athens. Here are some photos of the camp and of Fr Malcolm's visit. At 7.30 am Fr Malcom and Captain Polis Pandelis of the Salvation army arrive with sandwiches to meet the refugees arriving by metro having come by ferry from the Greek Islands. Sanitary facilities are extremely limited in the camp, with just one hosepipe, one make-shift shower, and two chemical toilets for over 800 families. Fr ...

St Saviour's Anglican Church, Riga Latvia has announced that it will receive 250 Syrians and Eritrean refugees. According to our parish priest in St Saviour's, Riga, the Rt Revd Jana Jeruma-Grinberga, the Latvian announcement has occasioned an outpouring of xenophobia in some quarters in that country. St Saviour's has issued a statement in support of the Latvian government's decision to provide refuge for those fleeing war and persecution. Churchwarden Michael Mustillo, has also been to visit the hostel which houses some of the recently arrived asylum seekers.  The statement from St Saviour's Church is below, a clear articulation of our Christian response in the face of the growing refugee crisis, for which we are grateful. Incidentally, the UK has only admitted a mere 187 asylum seekers from Syria under its "Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme" and has just recently agreed to further 200. Relative to the wealth and resources of Latvia, this is a...