Dear People & Friends of St. Clements,
Last Sunday, as all of you who were present at our Sung Eucharist will know, a British couple from Epsom, Surrey came and worshipped with us. They had listened to our BBC Radio 4 Broadcast Service ‘On the Feast of Stephen’ and my invitation at the end of the broadcast that, “If you are visiting Prague, please do come and join us for worship”. “So we decided to accept your invitation” they told me! Thank you to everybody who made them so welcome, both at the service and at Coffee Hour. They told me as they were leaving Klimentská 18 that our worship and welcome had been wonderful and the highlight of their visit to Prague.
Once more, the working week is rapidly drawing to a close so a reminder of what is happening in the life of the St. Clement’s congregation this Sunday & in the coming weeks.
This Sunday 13th February at 11am – Sung Eucharist for the Fourth Sunday before Lent
Our Gospel Reading this Sunday is a further part of what we usually refer to as the Sermon on the Mount. It is Matthew 5. 21-37 and contains some very challenging teaching by Jesus about what we should or should not say and do. Our Epistle Reading continues our journey through St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians being the first nine verses of chapter three. Please try and read both passages before coming to worship on Sunday.
There will be Children’s Ministry (formerly known as Sunday School) which will led this week by Alison Hellam.
And following the service there will be a Shared Lunch in the hall on the third floor of Klimentská 18. As everybody did four weeks ago, please bring a plate of food or a dish that can be easily shared with others. Hot and cold drinks will be provided. My thanks to Maddie Crook who kindly responded to my request for someone to be responsible for opening up the hall and overseeing the provision of drinks. Volunteers to help wash up & clean up afterwards will also be welcome on the day.
Whilst talking about volunteers, can I also thank Darina Vystrčilová who has volunteered to run Coffee Hour on Sunday 20th February when Caroline Studdert is also away.
Wednesday 16th February at the Communio Centre, Karolíny Svĕtlé 21 (diagonally across from the Rotunda of the Holy Cross), Prague 1
5pm – 7pm – I will be available for Coffee & Chat for anyone who wants to drop by & talk.
7pm – Evening Prayer followed by Bible Study & discussion aiming to finish no later than about 8.15pm.
Please note the change to slightly later times which seem to be more suitable to most people. If anyone wants to drop by to chat earlier, just drop me an email and we can make suitable arrangements.
Advance Notice – Ethics at Lunchtime
Jointly organised by St. Clement’s and the British Chamber of Commerce in the ČR, our next Ethics at Lunchtime event will take place on Wednesday 2nd March starting at 12.30pm and the subject for discussion will be “Is religious faith necessary in order to have ethical values in business?” Full details are on the flyer that is a pdf attachment to this email. Particularly if you work in central Prague, try and invite colleagues for what is always an excellent lunch and what promises to be a lively discussion.
Peter Morpuss is running the Prague Half Marathon……
and he is doing so to raise funds to support St. Clement’s. Thank you to everyone who has already signed up on his Sponsorship Form which is pinned to the noticeboard at the back of Church. More sponsors would be most welcome! The Half Marathon takes place on Saturday 2nd April.
A repeat of what I have previously written regarding our forthcoming Annual Church Meeting.
The Annual Church Meeting will be held on Sunday 27th March 2011. In order to stand for election or vote at the Annual Church Meeting, you need to be on the Church Electoral Roll. Recently, the Church Council went through the current roll and removed the names of people on it who we believe to have left the area of the Chaplaincy which is deemed to be the whole of the Czech Republic. This revised list is now pinned to the noticeboard at the back of Church. Please look at it & if by any unlikely chance, you think we have removed your name when we shouldn’t have done so, please let me know.
In order to join the Church Electoral Roll, you need to be baptised and a member of the Church of England or one of the other Anglican Churches around the world that together form the Anglican Communion. If you are baptised but not a member of a Church in the Anglican Communion, you can still apply to join the Church Electoral Roll if you have ‘habitually attended public worship’ for at least six months before making your application.
Forms to apply to join the Church Electoral Roll are in a plastic folder on the noticeboard at the back of Church. When completed, please return your form to me or to one of the Churchwardens. If you have any query about your eligibility, please speak with me.
Please note two important things
All applications to join the Church Electoral Roll must be received more than 15 days before the date of the Annual Church Meeting. Realistically that means by Sunday 6th March as we must display the complete Church Electoral Roll on the noticeboard for 15 days before the Annual Church Meeting.
Filling out a Newcomers Form from one of our Welcome Booklets, does NOT put you on the Church Electoral Roll. It just puts you on my email circulation list! You need to apply separately using the appropriate form.
That’s enough for this week. I look forward to seeing many of you on Sunday at 11am.
Best wishes
Ricky
