Dear People & Friends of St. Clement’s,
In my last ‘Weekly Message’, sent out on 23rd July, I did promise to write again, ‘somewhere in the middle of August’. So here is the promised message!
In Church life terms, August is usually a quiet month with so many of the congregation away on holiday/vacation &/or visiting their home countries. But as those of you who were at Church last Sunday will know, the past two weeks have been far from quiet for me personally, as I spent the first part of last week in hospital, being treated for a pulmonary embolism – a blood clot in my lung. Rather than repeat myself, if you want to know more, I’ve written up the whole experience on my blog. I’m pleased to report that my health continues to improve & I am most grateful for the prayers of so many people during this time.
Therefore, looking ahead…..
Sunday 16th August at 11.00 – Sung Eucharist for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity
Our Bible readings this coming Sunday, follow on from the passages we heard last Sunday. The responsive Psalm is Psalm 34. 9-14. The second reading is a further part of St. Paul’s letter to the Church at Ephesus – Ephesians 5. 15-20, where we are told to be ‘filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs’. Our Gospel reading will be the penultimate section of the discourse following the ‘feeding of the five thousand’, as recorded in John 6. 51-58, where Jesus declares that he is ‘the living bread that came down from heaven’. Cool Drinks and Light Refreshments will be served at the back of the Church following worship.
Then, providing I get the all-clear from my GP when I see her again on Monday morning, Sybille and I will be on holiday from Tuesday 18th – Tuesday 25th August inclusive. There will be worship at St. Clements at 11.00 on Sunday 23rd August – a Service of Morning Prayer. The service will be led by Jack Noonan and the preacher will be Rev’d Dr Karen Moritz.
Plans for the Autumn
In early September, the Tuesday evening meetings for Study, Fellowship & Prayer will resume. And on Thursday evenings, we plan to run a ‘Christian Basics’ course – what do Christians believe & why! More details when I get back from holiday. But in the meantime, if there is a topic, theme or Bible book that you would like us to tackle on a Tuesday evening, I’d love to hear from you. I always much prefer to ‘scratch where people are itching’ :-)
Best wishes
Ricky
