Not for the first time, my Midweek Message has become one of the End-of-Week variety. However…….

This Sunday 14th February at 11am – Sung Eucharist for the Sunday next before Lent
Our Gospel reading on Sunday is Luke 9 v28-36 which tells the story of the Transfiguration. As I frequently suggest, you might like to read it for yourself in advance of Sunday’s service. There will be Sunday School & the service will be followed by Coffee Hour in the meeting room on the third floor of Klimentská 18.

Ash Wednesday 17th February at 7pm – Sung Eucharist with imposition of Ashes
Lent begins on Wednesday next week. Please make every effort to mark the beginning of this important season of the Christian Year by coming to worship at 7pm in the evening. There will be the opportunity to receive the imposition of ashes during the service. However, this is entirely voluntary and you are still most welcome to attend even if you do not wish to receive imposition. Because of this service, there will be no meeting of the Thursday study group the following evening. For details of our Lent Study Course, see further on in this message.

Sunday 21st February – First Sunday of Lent
Following our 11am Sung Eucharist, there will be our second Shared Lunch of 2010. Being in Lent, it will be of a slightly more frugal nature! Sue Anderson, who is kindly organising it, has asked me to pass on the following message.

We would like to invite you to our next Shared Lunch, after the service, on  21st February.

Keeping the season of Lent in mind we propose a ‘frugal’ theme of baked potatoes in skins and a range of fillings  –  so you can raid the pantry.

Please let Sue know  (psprincipla (at) riversideschool (dot) cz / 731 178 731)if you are able to contribute any of the following items.

Baked potatoes (individually wrapped in foil to keep warm would be great) in batches of 8-10

Fillings in quantities of 8-10 portions

Some suggestions

·         Baked beans

·         Grated cheese

·         Tuna & mayonnaise

·         Leek & bacon

·         Chilli beans

·         Whatever you choose!!

Mixed/green salad

Ketchup/mayonnaise/sour cream

Cakes     8-10 servings

It would be really helpful if each could bring juice/bottle of water to also share. Hot drinks will be provided.

Sue will have a sign-up sheet this coming Sunday so there is no need to phone or email her if you are going to be in Church on Sunday 14th February.
Thursday Evenings during Lent
There is a very good longstanding tradition within many Christian Churches of giving more time to study during the season of Lent. Therefore in Lent this year, I am going to lead a series of studies on what are usually known as the Sacraments. The usual definition of a Sacrament is ‘An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace’. Strictly speaking, Anglicans only recognise Baptism and Holy Communion as sacraments whereas Roman Catholics would add five more. However, we can explore that issue as part of the course. Here are the dates and topics.

Thursday 25th February – Baptism & Confirmation

Thursday 4th March – Holy Communion/Eucharist

Thursday 11th March – Marriage

Thursday 18th March – Ordination

Thursday 25th March – Confession/Absolution/Reconciliation

My intention is each week, to speak for a while about the topic based on a printed handout that I will produce for everyone attending. There will then be an opportunity both for questions and discussion.

The venue will be the small meeting room on the first floor of Klimentská 18. This is both a central location and also one that is warm!!!! We will start at 7pm and probably finish around 8.30pm. I do hope that many of you will avail yourself of this opportunity to explore these topics which are at the heart of our understanding of our Christian faith and of the life of the Church.

Midweek Activities after Easter
The last two Sundays, we circulated copies of short questionnaire to try and find out what Midweek activities, at what times & on what days, members of the St. Clement’s congregation might be interested in. If you took a questionnaire, please bring it back duly completed this Sunday. Further copies will be available in Church on the next couple of Sundays. The information gained from the completed questionnaires will help me in planning future Midweek activities so I can hopefully lay on what people are looking for at times when they are free to attend.

Church Electoral Roll and the Annual Church Meeting
In order to be able to vote at the annual meeting and to be eligible for election to the Church Council, your name must be on the Church Electoral Roll. A copy of the current Church Electoral Roll will be on display at the back of Church this Sunday. If your name is on it, which hopefully you should know anyway(!), then you don’t need to do anything further.

If your name is not on it and you want to join the Church Electoral Roll, you need to be baptised, aged over 16, and declare that “I am a member of the Church of England (or of a Church in communion with the Church of England) and am normally resident in the area covered by the church”.

If you are not an Anglican, (and I am aware of how many ‘non Anglicans’ there are in the congregation), then you need to be baptised, aged over 16 and declare that

“I am a member in good standing of a Church (not in communion with the Church of England) which subscribes to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and also declare myself to be a member of the Church of England and I have habitually attended public worship in the church during the period of six months prior to enrolment”. Realistically, the last phrase means you need to have been worshipping with us since before mid-September 2009.

Application forms to join the Church Electoral Roll are in a plastic wallet pinned to the noticeboard at the back of Church. Completed forms need to be returned to me or the Churchwardens no later than 26th February 2010 as we have to display a complete Church Electoral Roll for 15 days before the Annual Meeting takes place.

And finally for this week……

Thank you to everyone who has responded and said that they will be coming to help Sybille and I celebrate our ‘100th birthday’ on the evening of Friday 26th February. Venue and other details will follow very shortly. If you haven’t yet responded, please just hit the reply button to this email and let us know. Thank you too for those people have let us know that they cannot come. A reminder once more that we want no presents – just your presence.

Best wishes

Ricky