Eurobishop

  The Anglican Church in Finland, whose principal congregation is St Nicholas Helsinki, was founded by refugees from St Petersburg, fleeing the Russian Revolution. The cross above is one of the historic artifacts brought with them.  Today, almost 100 years later, St Nicholas's congregation comes from around the world, a vibrant community of people of all ages.  The children and young people of St Nicholas parish have prepared and released this video, in which they express their Easter hopes and prayers:   for a greener and fairer world for all God's creatures,  for Coronavirus to leave the planet  to see family abroad  to have birthday parties again  to be with friends and eat chocolate eggs!   It is a delightful and joyful piece, which summarises our hopes before God this Easter. Thank you to the young folk of St Nicholas!       

Among the Anglican Communion's  Five Marks of Mission , it is perhaps the fifth mark "to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the Earth" that has an urgent resonance for people of all faiths, and none. We are living in a damaged world in the midst of a climate emergency and time is running out for us to stop and change direction; we have no other planet to go to.  With Lent fast approaching, I wish to commend a resource produced by USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel). It is a set of 6 studies, exploring environmental justice from Anglican perspecrives around the world entitled For Such a Time as This . This resource is available in PDF format here . Each study provides a reflection from a global partner, biblical extracts for reflection, questions for discussion, prayers and a simple action or commitment. The beauty of this resource is that it is easy for small groups to manage. Although written with a UK audience in min...

In this season of Creationtide, Christ Church Vienna is hosting a relevant workshop on the morning of Saturday 19 September. The workshop will be led by Dr Clare Amos, the Diocesan Director of Lay Discipleship, a biblical scholar and world class lay theologian. Dr Amos will draw on both the Old and New Testaments to explore our relationship to the created order. Environmental issues and a commitment to safeguard the integrity of creation is one of the key themes of the diocesan strategy.  Previous workshops by Clare have been heavily subscribed, so if you are interested please contact Christ Church Vienna ( office@christchurchvienna.org ) by Thursday 17 September to reserve your place! Please note that the times are Central European Time, (British Summer Time +1 hour).

A very happy Synod Standing Committee. Archdeacon David Waller 2nd from left "Caring for God's Creation" was the theme that united the clergy and lay delegates to the Gibraltar Archdeaconry Synod last week. The synod is one of the largest in the Diocese, which brings together our congregations in Gibraltar, Spain (including the Balearic and Canary Islands), Andorra, Portugal (including Madeira) and Morocco. The Revd Prof. Adrian Low, a scientist as well as the Chaplain of Costa del Sol West, set the pace for the clergy at their prior chapter meeting by exploring many themes tha ttouch upon the interface of science and religion, from quantum entanglement to the statistical questions of whether we are alone as sentient beings in the universe. The clergy also considered in more depth the Diocesan Rule of Life and the Revd John Chapman from St George's Barcelona shared his experience of a Rule of Life in his ministry and in parish life. Dr Clare Amos,...

Fr Walter Raymond, the Chaplain of St Paul's Monaco, has reported on Earth Sunday celebrations at Saint Paul's which took place on 8th May. These celebrations were organised and led by the Sunday Club. Members of the Sunday Club gave a group reading of the story of the Creation in Genesis 1 and provided an "Eco Challenge" in the place of the sermon, with each child representing one important element in God's creation: trees, water, air and more. A colourful poster helped illustrate their message, and the message was quite clear: we have a responsibility and it is in our best interests to care for the beautiful world God has provided as our home. During the service the children distributed seeded hyacinths in biodegradable pots to each of the households represented at the service. The Sunday Club children also served as greeters, helped take up the collection, and led the congregation in some very joyful singing! The leadership of the young folk at St Paul's i...

Thousands gathered last Thursday evening 4 December in the 850 year old Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. They were Christians, pilgrims and many others who were engaged in the Climate Summit in Paris, and those who simply wished to part of this ecumenical prayer service for the future of our planet. The service was organised by the Council of Churches of France and the three Co-Presidents, Pasteur François Clavairoly (Protestant), Metropolitan Emmanuel (Orthodox) and Archbishop Georges Pontier (RC) led major parts of the service. The welcome was given by Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris. When he invited the assembly to share a sign of peace, the Cathedral was filled with voices of many nations greeting each other as one family. Over 50 church leaders from around the world joined in the procession, including 6 Anglican bishops. Several Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church were present, a good representation of Orthodox bishops and others from Lutheran and Prote...

With Coptic Bishop Angaelos and His All Holiness the Patriarch The last week was a busy one ecumenically with the visit of His All-Holiness, Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The programme was full involving services of prayer for the plight of refugees, lectures on the environment, and a major service of Evensong in Westminster Abbey followed by prayers at the Shrine of St Edward the Confessor. At the service in the Abbey the recent statement published by the International Commission for Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue was presented to the Patriarch and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The text celebrates what Anglicans and Orthodox can say together about the human person, created in "the Image and Likeness of God". It forms the theological background to further work that the Commission will now undertake on ethical issues. For a solid reflection on what it means to be human, this is excellent reading. In his lectur...

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...

Faith leaders in Britain and Ireland have have pledged to fast and pray for the success of key international negotiations over climate change in a new declaration warning of the challenges facing the world over global warming. They released today a declaration on climate change which I post below. Today is also the eve, of course, of a much anticipated Papal Encyclical on this subject which will be published tomorrow, 18 June. The Papal Encyclical is entitled  Laudato Sii , or “Praised be”, from words used by St Francis of Assisi in a canticle in which he praises "Brother Son","Sister Moon", "Brother Wind" and "Sister Water". The canticle can be found in our Church of England Common Worship: Daily Prayer  as canticle 84 on page 641. Perhaps it could be prayed daily between now and the Climate Summit in Paris in December. Many may also know a hymn version "All Creatures of Our God and King". The text of the Lambeth Declaration i...

Madeleine chats to another delegate at the ECEN Conference Madeleine Holmes, our Diocesan Environmental Officer, was one of more than 100 delegates and guests from 24 countries who attended the 10th Assembly of the European Christian Environmental Network (ECEN) in Balatonszárszó (Hungary) from 27 September to 1 October 2014. Under the theme of “Energy and Climate Change - the Churches' Role and Voice”, the Assembly offered a place for discussion, worship and sharing of the churches’ concerns related to climate change and energy use. The statement from the conference is here . Madeleine points out a particularly relevant piece of information for this diocese: that the COP21 Climate Summit is scheduled from 30 November to 11 December 2015 in Paris. This will be a major global event, gathering world political leaders and many stakeholders from civil society. It is proposed that there are to be pilgimages from European Churches to Paris around the time of the summit, so that ...

Our Diocesan Environmental Officer, Madeleine Holmes, has just circulated this message to the people of the Diocese. It can also be found on the diocesan website . _____________________________________________________________ My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ I pray you had a Christmas Celebration of joy and hope and now wish you every blessing for 2014 We have many challenges to face both in our church life, our personal lives and in the security and caring of our Wonderful World, for which we give thanks to God . The first challenge will be the debate at General Synod in February on the Environment and the Environment team are working hard to make sure this is a good and encouraging debate. Please pray for this. Our second challenge is to have taken account of the Report which we had on website last year telling us how the scientists view our progress with caring for our world and to act. Our next challenge is to continue the progress but press on towards our go...

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has published its report at the end of last month. This report which is the most comprehensive, authoritative report on this subject runs to over 1,000,000 words, was compiled by over 600 scientists and peer-reviewed by over 9,000 researchers. The report has a devastatingly clear and urgent message: Climate change is real, caused by human activity and requires immediate action. The facts are now before the people of this planet: It’s likely that the world will exceed two degrees global temperature rise by the end of this century. Two degrees is the internationally recognised danger limit - even this level will cause much suffering.  Sea levels will probably rise by between 40cm and 63cm by the end of the century. They have already risen by 20cm since 1971. Each of the last three decades has been successively warmer at the earth’s surface than any preceding decade since 1850 and in the Northern Hemisphere, 1983–2012 w...

Photo credit: WCC Jane Nyeche, a young adult member of St Paul's in Athens, Greece, recently served as a steward for a World Council of Churches Central Committee meeting, held at the Orthodox Academy, Kolympari, Crete, from 27 August to 6 September. The theme of the meeting was that which will be used at next year's General Assembly of the WCC, "Lord of love, lead us to justice and peace". It  was an inspiring gathering, according to Jane, who was part of a team of 26 stewards, all between the ages of  18 and 30  who helped to staff the event. In the above photo, Jane is near the centre at the bottom of the picture.    The participants were from many countries around the world, including both Koreas. As a steward,   Jane attended all meetings and worked as a floor manager responsible for showing delegates to their seats and providing them with copies of documents and speeches. The team of stewards also participated  in training  seminars,...

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...

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...

The Diocese in Europe, along with the rest of the Church of England, has endorsed the observance of a "Time for Creation", from 1 September (the first day of the church year for the Orthodox Churches) to 4 October (the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi). During this season our congregations are encouraged to give particular focus to environmental issues.  “Time for Creation” links in naturally with the time when we celebrate harvest thanksgivings.  This year the theme is “Our Daily Bread – Food in God’s Creation”.   I want to commend to the clergy and readers of the diocese and to all involved in planning and leading worship the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) website which has a host of useful resources, including sermon notes, intercessions and other liturgical material.  The website is here . Common Worship: Times and Seasons also has a rich selection of resources on pages 599-606 and 623-632. Those who pray the daily office may wish to use the m...

The Diocese in Europe Environmental Officer, Madeleine Holmes, has circulated to our clergy, readers and parish environmental officer an update on environmental matters of interest to our Church. As Madeleine wants her communications to be widely circulated in the diocese, I have posted it on this weblog. If you wish to be in contact with Madeleine her email address is: madeleine@peladis.plus.com For her message to clergy, readers and parishes of the diocese, follow the read more link below.

Photo by DFID - UK Department for International Development The fact of global climate change has been much in evidence this summer: record heat and widespread fires in Russia; floods covering a third of Pakistan; landslides in China; and an ice island broken off a Greenland glacier, four times the size of Manhattan. Among the actions that the Church of England and our Diocese in Europe have endorsed concerning climate change is the observance of a "Time for Creation", from 1 September (the first day of the church year for the Orthodox Churches) to 4 October (the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi). During this season, our congregations are encouraged to give particular focus to environmental issues. Prayers for the environment and for the created order are often missing from the intercessions on a Sunday morning. Perhaps during this years "Time for Creation", they can begin to be part of our regular Sunday prayer. Our Diocesan Environmental Officer, Madeleine Ho...

The new Diocesan Environmental Officer, Madeleine Holmes (above), represented the diocese at the 8th Assembly of the European Christian Environmental Network, ECEN , in Prague from 9 - 13 June, one of 85 participants from 23 European countries. The theme for the assembly was Our Daily Bread - Living in a Time of Climate Change .  ECEN is the main instrument of the Conference of European Churches for addressing environmental issues, and also works closely with the World Council of Churches and with the Council of European (Roman  Catholic) Bishops' Conferences . Madeleine notes that despite the disappointing outcome from the COP15 United Nations climate summit last December in Copenhagen, churches continue to be committed to addressing the challenges of global warming which threaten God's creation on earth. One way is to encourage Christians to review our eating habits. Intensive meat production is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Madeleine wri...

Brian Morgan, the Diocesan Environmental Officer, has written this reflection for the clergy and laity of the diocese, following the disappointment of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP15, in Copenhagen last December. The eyes of the whole world were focused though out 2009 on the much heralded UN Climate Change Conference COP15 which was held in Copenhagen from the 7th to 18th December. I do not think I exaggerate if I call the final outcome a near disaster for God's creation and mankind. For the world leaders at the table it was not possible to reach a fair, ambitious or binding agreement to arrest the increase in global warming within + 2° C, remembering it is the world's poorest people who are prone to suffer the most. Lust for pride, possessions and power, man's most mournful sins, stood in the way of any chance of a multilateral contract. Through out the year millions of people all around the globe have been making their fears and anger about global warming...