Eurobishop

The Revd Dr Matthias Grebe, a priest of this diocese currently serving a curacy in Bonn and Cologne, is also a theologian whose work on Karl Barth is now receiving serious acclaim in the academic world. Dr Grebe has studied at Tubingen, Cambridge, and Princeton. A book which carries forward his doctoral dissertation has just been published entitled: Election, Atonement, and the Holy Spirit. Through and Beyond Barth's Theological Interpretation of Scripture . The significance of this study is underlined by Professor David Ford, the Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge. In his Foreword to Dr Grebe's book, Professor Ford writes: Karl Barth’s doctrines of election and atonement are surely among the greatest achievements of Christian theology. They also contain some of the deepest and most daring biblical interpretation ever written. And throughout his works Barth challenges his readers to explore, test and if possible improve on how he understands scripture. Matthias ...

St Nicholas' Ankara was packed with standing room only on Remembrance Sunday, 9 November. Ambassadors and Military Attachés attended from Ireland, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Germany, Japan, Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Belgium and France. Not to mention the regular parishioners. A reception following the service was hosted by His Excellency Richard Moore, the UK Ambassador to Turkey. Ambassador Richard Moore (2nd from right) with other diplomatic representatives

St Nicholas's Ankara is a parish with a very rich cross-section of parishioners. Many are associated with the sizeable diplomatic, international and NGO community in the Turkish capital. Some are on short-term assignments in the country. Some are refugees fleeing persecution in their home countries. On Saturday 8 November, 8 persons were baptised and 10 confirmed. All of the candidates had fled dangerous situations in their homeland. The service was bilingual English and Farsi. The parish has an extensive programme of welcome and accompaniment for refugees. Like all congregations of the Church of England, there are regular programmes for the catechesis  and preparation for the sacraments for those who are new to the Faith. One of the delightful aspects to the parish is the group of young parishioners who take great care and pride in their ministry of preparing the Church for worship before people arrive and serving as acolytes for the Eucharist. Typical of an internatio...

Bishop Ring The Anglican and Old Catholic bishops in Europe send a letter each year on the feast of St Willibrord to the Anglican and Old Catholic parishes on the continent. This year's letter was written by Bishop Dr Matthias Ring, the Old Catholic Bishop of Germany. The text of the letter is below. St Willibrord's Day is 7 November. My apologies for the late posting of this, due to absence from my office.      In-People and For-People Message from the Anglican and Old-Catholic Bishops in Continental Europe to their churches on the occasion of the Feast of St Willibrord, 7 November 2014 Dear brothers and sisters, I must confess that I didn’t notice it at first. It wasn’t until a letter of congratulations arrived that I realised that the day of my election as bishop, 7 November 2009, was also the Feast of St. Willibrord. I don’t want to speculate on the deeper meaning of this coincidence, especially as I am a bishop in Bonn and not in Utrecht. But se...

On 30th October the Acting Archdeacon of Germany and Northern Europe, the Venerable Peter Potter, licensed the Revd Jana Jeruma-Grinberga as priest-in-charge of St Saviour's, Riga, Latvia. The historic Church in downtown Riga was full for the service. Although a Church of England congregation, St Saviour's is a home to people from many nations. It has an impressive programme of outreach in the community. The appointment of Jana is a first fruit of the signing of the Porvoo Agreement by the Evangelical Latvian Lutheran Church Abroad, which occurred last September. Jana was ordained a priest of that Church and as we are now in communion she was able to be appointed to a Church of England position, (after receiving the Archbishop of Canterbury's permission under the Overseas Clergy Measure in the usual way). Although Jana is licensed as a priest in this diocese, many will be interested to know that her last position was actually as a bishop. She was the first wo...

On Sunday 2 November the Feast of All Saints was celebrated in St Mark's Church in Florence. Besides being a time to remember departed loved ones and parishioners, this 70th anniversary year of the liberation of Italy was marked with special prayers for those who served and those who fell in that campaign. St Mark's Churchwarden Colonel Mark Ridley reading the first lesson A memorial plaque to the 48th Highlanders of Canada was unveiled, by Mrs Sandra Seagram Annovazzi, on behalf of the 48th Highlanders' Comrades' Association. The regimental collect was prayed by Lieutenant-Commander the Revd Canon David Greenwood of the the Canadian Armed Forces. Their Excellencies the Ambassadors of Canada and the UK were present for the occasion as well as military attachés to Italy from Poland, the UK, Canada, and the USA. The Archbishop of Florence was represented by Monsignor Timothy Verdon. At the start of the service, St Mark's Florence Chaplain, Fr William L...

We are blessed in this diocese for many of the clergy who serve our churches come from other parts of the Anglican Communion or from Churches in Communion with the Church of England. They bring a great richness and breadth of experience to us. There are, however, so many peculiarities in this particular Province of the Anglican Communion - rules, measures, canons and guidelines, that are often bewildering to those whose ministry has previously been outside the Church of England. And just to complicate things, there are particular norms and procedures which pertain to the unique context of this diocese. Even common terminology like "Churchwarden" denotes very different functions in different parts of the Anglican Communion. By coincidence, five priests recently appointed to positions in this Diocese in Europe come from outside the Church of England. I therefore proposed a meeting for some orientation together, to provide a chance to cover some basic matters that will b...