Dear People & Friends of St. Clement’s,
Firstly this week, a big ‘Thank you‘ to everyone who made our Pentecost worship last Sunday, so meaningful & powerful. If you weren’t there – you missed a treat!
The Sunday after Pentecost is Trinity Sunday from whence we start counting the Sundays after Trinity until All Saints Day on 1st November. Therefore…….
Sunday 15th June at 11.00 – Sung Eucharist for Trinity Sunday
Our Bible readings will be Isaiah 40. 12-17 & 27-31 and Psalm 8. The Gospel reading will be what is commonly known as ‘The Great Commission’, as recorded in Matthew 28. 16-20, one of two places in the New Testament where a clear Trinitarian formula appears. One of the things I most like about Trinity Sunday is the opportunity to sing hymns with a Trinitarian theme, usually with the first verse addressing God the Father, the second addressing God the Son, & the third addressing the Holy Spirit. It is a Sunday when one is spoilt for choice when it comes to hymn selection :-)
There will be parallel Children’s Ministry and following worship, Cool Drinks & Light Refreshments will be served at the back of the Church.
There are two good things to look forward to on the following Sunday 22nd June. The first is that we will be joined for worship by the Choir of St. Chad’s College, Durham UK who will sing a setting of the Communion Service by Harold Darke. The second good thing is that we will have a guest preacher, Rev’d Dr Stephen Lahey. Stephen is an Episcopal priest from the USA and a personal friend of Rev’d Dr Karen Moritz. He spent some weeks in Prague last year and worshipped with us & is here again for the next three Sundays. Both of his visits are for his academic research into the writings of Jan Hus.
Financial update
I’m pleased to be able to report that we will very shortly receive a grant of £5,000 from the Hamish Parker Trust into our London account. This will solve our immediate liquidity problems whilst we continue to seek ways to be financially viable in the longer term. Your Church Council is meeting next on Sunday 22nd June and would value your prayers as they seek to find a way forward.
Used stamps for ICS
A big ‘Thank you’ to everybody who has put their used postage stamps in the collecting envelope pinned to our noticeboard at the back of the Church. Before going to the UK for the ICS Chaplains Conference in May, I emptied the collecting envelope & took all the stamps with me, directly to ICS HQ! However, I was very pleased to notice last Sunday, that the collecting envelope is rapidly refilling! Remember – all used postage stamps are wanted with the exception of those British ones which only bear the Queen’s Head. Leave the stamp(s) on the envelope & cut or tear off the corner of the envelope where the stamp(s) is/are located, leaving about a 5mm border around the stamp(s).
Update from Sybille
Another big ‘Thank you’ to the many of you who offered your prayers and support for Sybille last Sunday, before she set off on her long distance pilgrimage the next day. You can see & read about her setting off here and find out more about her pilgrimage here. I can report that about thirty minutes ago, I received a text message to say she has today safely reached Příbram.
Best wishes
Ricky
