Eurobishop

St Paul's Pro-Cathedral, Valletta The Chancellor of St Paul's Pro- Cathedral in Valletta, Malta, the Revd Canon Simon Godfrey, has requested the prayers of the diocese at this time. Fr Simon writes: "As you know we are at the very heart of the Repatriation of many hundreds of English speaking people from Libya ,Egypt and the North African countries facing regime change and self determination aswell as many thousands of non English speaking refugees .At present HMS Cumberland and York are spearheading this vital and dangerous work and we see civilian charterd vessels conveying Americans, Italians and other Europeans et cetera on the Valletta waterfront regularly apart from the Hercules air transporters that are landing at our airport in Luqa. The Home Office have sent many FCO civil servants to supplement our very busy High Commissioner and her Staff and we are keeping them all in our prayers here at the Cathedral.Offers of help from our congregations have not yet bee...

When Danish film director Susanne Bier called Archdeacon Jonathan LLoyd to ask whether she could film a funeral scene at St Alban's Church, Copenhagen, as part of her new movie, he at first said no. After reading the script, he changed his mind and agreed to meet the production crew. "I had never heard of Susanne Bier, having just arrived myself in Denmark. But the movie clearly has a strong ethical message of forgiveness, and so, after consulting my churchwardens, I agreed". The film "In a Better World" won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academcy Awards, announced Sunday in Los Angeles. Fr Jonathan has a walk-on part in the film, acting as himself. The production team wanted to know the exact details of an English funeral compared to a Danish one. "In the end it got so complicated to explain, that I agreed to just do it myself.", explained Jonathan. "We had about 20 takes, and my part was to walk up to the coffin and sh...

On 11 - 13 February 12 persons from across the diocese gathered for an Enquirers' Conference in London, organised by the Diocesan Director of Ordinands, the Revd William Gulliford (above left). The weekend was designed to provide an exposure to the reality of ordained ministry in the Church of England and included presentations on aspects of the journey of discernment, selection, training and deployment as priests and deacons. The participants also visited local parish communities in London to observe the life of the congregations and their mission.  The participants, 6 men and 6 women, came from 12 different congregations from across the diocese in Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Austria, Finland and France. 7 were from non-English backgrounds with no experience of the Church of England in its homeland. Deacon Frances Hiller assisted Fr Gulliford in leading the weekend, along with a former ordinand of our diocese, the Revd Tasha Critchlow (originally from St Petersburg,...

European Churches have been asked to circulate within our networks a notice about a vacancy in a key ecumenical leadership position, that of General Secretary of the Conference of European Churches (CEC). The job is presently based in Geneva and the mandate is for three years from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2014, and is renewable. This is a demanding position, providing leadership and strategic thinking for some 120 member churches of CEC, Orthodox, Anglican, Protestant and Old Catholic, in 38 countries in Europe. Details of the job, and instructions about how to apply can be found here . The position is open to suitably qualified men, women, ordained and lay. The deadline for applications is 15 April. The general CEC website is here .

Archbishop Andres Põder of Estonia celebrates in Holy Spirit Church assisted by the Revd Arho Tuhkru From 20 to 23 February, 30 representatives from Churches in the Porvoo Communion gathered in Tallinn, Estonia, for a consultation entitled “Responding to Conflict”. The consultation was chaired jointly by Bishop Martin Wharton of Newcastle and Bishop Karl Sigurbjörnsson of Iceland. 5 circumstances in which the Churches respond to conflict were examined: 1. Within the human person and between individuals 2. Within churches and congregations 3. Across religious, ethnic or cultural roots 4. Between creation and human beings 5. Between Church and State. The members of the consultation heard various presentations on 1.  the political and religious conflict (using Ireland as a case study); 2.  diaconal perspectives in response to conflict; 3.  authority, conflict and leadership; and 4.  psychological perspectives. The Diocese in Europe was repres...

Archdeacon Jonathan Lloyd of Germany and Northern Europe met with the Revd Amos Manga and members of the White Nile Congregational Committee in Vaasa on 15 February. The Archdeacon was able to present a cheque to the congregation for €5,500 which is the result (so far) raised by our parishes during the Advent Appeal 2010 for the educational project of the White Nile Congregation. The Revd Amos Manga expressed thanks from the congregation for the generous response of brothers and sisters across the diocese. Detailed plans are now being put into place for the administration of a special fund which will provide resources to improve the English language skills of youth, women and other leaders of this Sudanese congregation. Other general plans for the strengthening of congregational life were discussed at the meeting which was chaired by the Revd Rupert Moreton, the chaplain of the Anglican Church in Finland. The representative of the Mothers’ Union highlighted the priorities of bible ...

The Chaplain of the Church of St John the Evangelist, the Revd Mark Cregan, after consultation with the British Embassy and Consulate General, the US Consul General, the Archdeacon and myself, has decided that St John’s will not hold services this coming Sunday 20th February. (There are normally two services on Sunday morning, 9.30 and 11.30). This cancellation is for services on 20 February only and is due to the proximity of the Church to the part of the city where demonstrations are anticipated to take place. Your prayers are urged for Morocco, and that any demonstrations on Sunday will be peaceful. (The Diocese in Europe has two congregations in Morocco, St Andrew's Tangier and St John the Evangelist, Casablanca. The Church of England is, along with the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church and the Eglise Evangélique au Maroc , an officially recognised Church in Morocco with permission from the host country to serve our members).