Eurobishop

  Clergy ordained in the Church of England are required to complete, following ordination, 3 years of further training called IME 2. In our diocese this post ordination programme is run by our Director of Ministerial Development, the Revd Canon Ulla Monberg. Over the past couple of years, due to the pandemic, the teaching and courses have been held virtually, using Zoom. However, there is at least one important module for which Zoom has severe limitations: liturgical theory and practice. So from 30 November to 3 December 17 of our curates in training posts gathered safely for the first face to face IME 2 sessions since the beginning of the pandemic. Canon Monberg chose as the venue Kardinal Schulte Haus in Cologne, well known to many in the diocese from other gatherings there such as Diocesan Synod. It has suitable space for safe gatherings, and excellent transportation links, a vital consideration since our curates come from Norway to Milan, and from Madrid to Moscow! Unfortunat...

Surrounded by 9 priests, 1 deacon, 2 archdeacons and 2 bishops, the Revd Canon Geoff Johnston celebrated his golden jubilee of priesthood on Sunday 22 December. Christ Church Belper was filled for the anniversary mass. Archdeacon Geoff was joined by his wife Carol, members of his family, parishioners, and friends and former colleagues from around the UK and the continent. Fr Geoff has served the Church in many roles over these past 50 years: parish priest, industrial missioner, lecturer, ecumenical officer, area dean, assistant director of ordinands, and acting Archdeacon of Gibraltar, and acting Archdeacon of Italy and Malta. It was a joyful and moving occasion indeed, particularly at the heart of the service when Fr Geoff recited in the eucharistic prayer "we thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you". Ad multos annos!

Guy Diakiese, Jean-Bosco Turahirwa, Giampaolo Pancetti It is the time of ordinations across the Church, once again, and in the Diocese in Europe the following persons are being ordained this weekend: The Revd Guy Diakiese (to continue to serve as assistant curate, St John and St Philip, the  Hague) to be ordained to the Sacred Order of Priest by Bishop Robert on Saturday 30 June at 11.00 in St John and St Philip Church in the Hague. Sacred Order of Priest Mr Jean-Bosco Turahirwa   (to serve as assistant curate, Holy Trinity Pro-Cathedral, Brussels) to be ordained to the Sacred Order of Deacon by Bishop Robert on Sunday 1 July at 1030 in Holy Trinity Brussels. Mr Giampaolo Pancetti (to serve as assistant curate in St Mark’s, Florence) to be ordained to the Sacred Order of Deacon by Bishop David on Sunday 1 July at 1630 in St Mark's Church Florence. All are warmly invited to attend these celebrations. Clergy and Readers are invited to robe and join in pro...

Part of the mandatory training of clergy in the Church of England happens after ordination. What was previously called "POT" - Post Ordination Training - is now termed "IME Phase II". In our diocese the Director of Ministerial Development, the Revd Canon Ulla Monberg, is responsible for this training. A recent residential session was completed just a couple of weeks ago during which time the new ordinands explored dimensions of Benedictine, Franciscan, Dominican, Julian, Ignatian and Evangelical approaches to prayer and spirituality, both to sustain their own ministry as well as to equip them for their role as teachers of prayer in their congregations. The curates at this recent session came from churches in Turkey, Poland, Germany, Spain, France and Armenia. Four of the curates were finishing their IME Phase II and presented Canon Ulla with a card and present (which appears to be a "spiritual gift") to thank her for her guidance and care over the ...

Today I think I witnessed the Church's decision-making at its best.  The General Synod (which I am attending during the episcopal interregnum) overwhelmingly gave welcome to a package of proposals which charts the way forward to permit the consecration of women as bishops. This is the first stage towards a process. Final approval will be at a later stage.   The remarkable thing was to witness members of the Synod from every theological stripe in the Church of England give support to the package of proposals. There were 33 speeches, and all but two were largely positive towards the package. Yes, there were wise words of caution, and a reminder that we should not be complacent as we move forward as there will be hard work involved in the next stages. In particular there was a warning not to tinker with the careful and delicate balance that has been sought in the proposals.    5 guiding principles, which must be held together as they create the balance ...

Last month's meeting of the Church of England's College of Bishops was extended by a day to go into conference mode. One woman priest of senior standing was appointed by each Diocesan Bishop to attend this conference which was entitled “Women’s Ordained Ministry and the Transformation Agenda” which was held on 19 September. Bishop Geoffrey invited the Revd Canon Ulla Monberg to be the woman representative of this diocese. The conference on 19 September, almost 20 years since the first women’s ordination to the priesthood in the C of E, explored what enables and what hinders the development of women’s ordained ministry.The bishops and women clergy worked in small groups and in plenary and panel sessions addressing and discussing these two questions:                             What enables women ’s ordained ministry to flourish?     ...

Our curates in their training (title) posts continue with scheduled residential meetings to fulfil the Church of England's requirement for what is known technically as IME 4 - 7. IME 4 - 7 are the 4 years of training for ordained ministry that must be completed after ordination. Thus the full amount of time required to train a priest or deacon in the Church of England is approximately 7 years.  IME 4 - 7 in the Diocese in Europe is delivered under the supervision of the Director of Training, the Revd Canon Ulla Monberg.  Earlier this month the curates came together at St Columba's House in Woking for an extended weekend of Post Ordination Training, focussing on prayer and spirituality. The resource person for this particular set of sessions was the Rvd Dr Mark Godson of the London Centre for Spirituality, who is pictured second from the right above.  What a fine looking group of curates we have!  

Following on the failure of the proposed legislation to enable the consecration of women as bishops to gain necessary approval in the final consideration vote in the General Synod, Bishop Geoffrey and I have sent the following letter to the women clergy of our diocese:  21 November 2012 To the women clergy of the Diocese in Europe     Dear Sisters As a result of the vote in the General Synod yesterday, there is deep sadness and disappointment felt by so many in our Church, and bewilderment in the world we are called to serve. For both of us, yesterday’s pattern of voting raises questions about the processes of the General Synod in considering this kind of legislation. We know from the results of the diocesan synods across the Church, including our own, that the Church of England does want women bishops. The size of the majority which voted in favour of the legislation at the General Synod yesterday confirmed this. However, as we know, the hurdle to attain 2/3 of the votes...

The safeguarding of children in our Church is paramount.  This clear statement of our Church's commitment was reaffirmed at the Synod of the Diocese in Europe at its meeting in Cologne, from 11 to 15 June, when an updated policy on Safeguarding (formerly known as “child protection”) was introduced and explained.  Chris Lees, the Diocesan Safeguarding Officer together with the Diocesan Communications Officer, Paul Needle, highlighted the major new element in the updated policy, which is a procedure for the safe recruiting of volunteers who may have regular contact with children and vulnerable adults. Up to now, robust procedures for the safe recruitment of licensed workers (clergy and readers) are in place, but not for general volunteers who may hold positions of trust in our congregations, such as teaching Sunday School. All new volunteers recruited for such positions must now have the normal background checks completed. The procedure for the safe recruitment of volu...

At the close of the Readers' Conference in Cologne, on Sunday 17 June, the lay ministers solemnly affirmed their commitment to service, asking God to give them grace to respond with gladness to their calling. Representatives then carried before the people the symbols which had been the focus of the daily worship, the Bible, the oil of healing, the water which gives life, and a burning candle which gives light out into the world, as the African song, "Send me Lord" was sung. Many new friendships were made during the conference, and plans were shared about how to strengthen the network of communication among the Readers.

Nick Clarke, the Senior Communications Officer for the Church of England, addressed the Readers' Conference on Sunday 17 June and issued two challenges to Readers as persons trained in the communication of the Gospel: Prepare two press releases a year, to get the news of the Church's life and witness out into the world; and engage with social media. As a trained radio broadcaster and journalist, he gave a quick instruction on how to prepare effective press releases using a very simple format. He also proposed that "the greatest mission opportunity of the 21st century is to engage social media". A lively discussion ensued about the use of websites, blogs, facebook, twitter, flickr and other social media to get the Church's message out into the world.

At the Diocesan Synod final dinner last evening, it was announced that our Director of Training, the Revd Canon Ulla Monberg, has been co-opted onto the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), for the next 6 years. The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, the Revd Canon Kenneth Kearon, wrote to Canon Monberg with this exciting news last week. The ACC is one of the instruments of the Anglican Communion, set up after the 1968 Lambeth Conference, to facilitate the co-operative work of the Churches of the Communion, exchanging information between the provinces and helping to co-ordinate common action. It advises on the organisation and structures of the Communion and seeks to develop common policies with respect to the mission and ecumenical life of the Churches. The ACC membership includes from one to three persons from each province (the Church of England has three). Canon Monberg has been invited to bring the perspective of European Anglicanism, which gives us a unique v...

Last October on this blog I announced an essay competition run by the St Boniface Trust , an Anglican charity, which was offering a prize of £1000 for the best 5000-word answer to the question "Why I am an Anglican and believe I shall remain so".  This was a global competition, and 64 submissions came in from around the world. But the prize-winning essay was submitted by a member of one of the parishes of this Diocese in Europe, Natacha-Ingrid Tinteroff. A French convert from Roman Catholicism, Natacha-Ingrid used her essay to celebrate the best of Anglicanism and the Anglican Communion, which she believes includes its liturgy, its space to discover God's truth, and its "integral catholicity".  Tinteroff wrote, “Being an Anglican is much more than what is currently advertised by the media. Anglican global identity is not defined by a positioning in favour or against homosexual clergy and women bishops. The overall depth of our tradition, and particula...

Holy Trinity Cathedral prior to January 2010 I was not sure what to expect when I arrived at what was once the site of Holy Trinity Cathedral, Port-au-Prince. It was once a UNESCO heritage site due to its magnificent collection of Haitian frescos. Close by were St Peter's Secondary School, St Vincent's School for the Handicapped, (the only school of its kind in the country), the Episcopal University and Seminary, St Margaret's Convent, and the home of the country's only symphony orchestra, all run by the Episcopal (Anglican) Church in Haiti. Now it is all in ruins following the devastating earthquake which struck Haiti on 10 January 2010. The site of Holy Trinity Cathedral today But on this site of ruin and death a temporary cathedral was erected for the consecration of Ogé Beauvoir as suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Haiti. A vast congregation of over 1000 gathered from across the diocese, the Caribbean, USA, Canada and Europe. The rubble and ruins ga...

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...

In case your parish has not yet decided on a Lent programme for this year, you might want to have a look at  "And it was good "   This is the title of a  5-session course available for group or individual use in Anglican Churches around the world. It is based on the  fifth mark of mission as understood by the Anglican Communion:  ‘To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth". It aims to help us discover how key aspects of the life, ministry and death of Jesus Christ also shed light upon this theme. The course has been put together by Anglicans from around the world, which make it an ideal resource for our own multi-cultural diocese, which has often been described as "the Anglican Communion in miniature". The five sessions are: The hope of something new (exploring Isaiah 11:1-9 and Mark 1:9-15) The place of humanity in the created order (exploring Genesis 1-2 and Jeremiah 4:11-28) Je...

A priest from the Diocese in Europe is making history in the Church of Ireland!  The Revd Sampson Ajuka is a native of Nigeria who tested his vocation to the priesthood in the diocese in Europe several years ago. He was ordained in this diocese after his studies at the Queens Foundation for Theological Studies in Birmingham and served his curacy in St Anthony of Egypt congregation in Padua and St George's Venice. Just before Christmas, Fr Sampson moved to take up responsibility for the Devenish and Boho Group of Parishes in the Diocese of Clogher in the Church of Ireland. He is accompanied by his wife Ugonna and their two children Chiemela and Rejoice.    The Bishop of Clogher, the Rt Revd John McDowell, says of this appointment, "I t is with great enthusiasm that we welcome Sampson and his family into the Diocese. I think I am correct in saying that Sampson will be the first African clergy person to have charge of a parish in the Diocese of Clogher...

Bishop Arturo Sánchez Galán, the retired bishop of the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church ( Iglesia Española Reformada Episcopal, IERE ) died on the morning of 10 January. He was 85. "Don Arturo" was the bishop of this Spanish Anglican jurisdiction, from 1983 to 1995. ( IERE was   organised in 1868 by dissident Roman Catholics. It became an autonomous part of the Anglican Communion in 1980. The present Bishop Carlos López Lozano  resides in Madrid. There are about 25 parishes and missions. These are quite separate from the Church of England's Diocese in Europe churches and congregations in Spain).   Bishop  Sánchez  was responsible as chairman of FEREDE  (the Federation of Protestant Churches in Spain), for heading up negations between the Spanish State and the non-Roman Catholic Churches including reaching important agreements of cooperation, following the difficult Franco years. He also had an international profile having served on the Worl...

An Anglican charity has announced a prize of £1,000 for the best 5000-word answer to ‘Why I am an Anglican and believe I shall remain so’. St Boniface Trust is running the competition which is open to both lay people and clergy of all ages. In a statement a spokesperson for the Trust said, “The Trust feels that more attention needs to be paid to the understanding of Anglicanism as a distinctive witness in a time when its self understanding is at a low ebb.There is a degree of urgency and to further this understanding it is offering a prize of £1,000 which will go to the writer of an essay of about 5,000 words on the subject ‘Why I am an Anglican and believe I shall remain so’.Essay submissions by lay people and clergy of all ages must be received by 1 January 2012 and entries will be judged by 2 senior clergy. The result will be announced next Easter and the winning essay placed on our website together with other significant contributions.” The St Boniface Tru...

The Revd Paul McIntosh and Bishop Thomas Brown On 27 May, the Rt Revd Dr Thomas Brown, Bishop of Wellington, New Zealand, ordained Paul McIntosh to the diaconate in St Michael's Church in Paris. Paul has been studying for Holy Orders at St Mellitus College in London and has been working as a lay ministry assistant in St Michael's during training. His wife, Catherine, is a New Zealand diplomat based in Paris. For the next seven months, Deacon Paul will be assisting in St Mark's Versailles, before he and Catherine return to New Zealand at the end of the year. Back in Wellington, Paul will be assigned to parish work by Bishop Tom, and God wiling, will be ordained to the priesthood at some point in the future. The chaplain of St Michael's, the Revd Philip Mounstephen hosted the service. There were many clergy in attendance from France, the Netherlands and England. (I discovered that there is a small but very loyal NZ cadre of clergy in the diocese!) The Revd Dr Andrew ...