Dear People & Friends of St. Clements,
Between now and Sunday 24th April, the Church marks and celebrates the most important period of the Christian Year – Palm Sunday, Holy Week & Easter. As I said when preaching last Sunday morning, we should take note of the significance that the Gospel writers give to the events of the first Palm Sunday, Holy Week & Easter. Matthew, Mark and Luke give about a third of their respective Gospels to describing these events, whilst John gives almost half of his Gospel to doing so. So the main thrust of my Message this week is to invite as many of you as possible to join us for worship at St. Clement’s in the coming days to enter into the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ before we then celebrate the joy of his resurrection.
Palm Sunday – 17th April at 11am – Family Eucharist
Please, please try to be on time for the beginning of our worship this coming Sunday as we are going to start the service in a slightly different way to normal. Whilst I shall ask Michal Novenko to play something on the organ beforehand, it will not lead directly into our first hymn. Instead, there will be some words of introduction followed by the reading of the Palm Gospel – Matthew 21. 1-11. Following that reading, we will sing our first hymn & I will invite all the children to join me in a Palm Sunday procession around the Church to re-enact the events about which we will just have heard.
There will not be separate Children’s Ministry on Sunday but I hope that the procession, together with one or two other things that I have in mind, will keep them involved within our worship. The service will be followed by Coffee Hour in the hall on the third floor of Klimentská 18 which Darina Vystrčilová is kindly organising in the absence of Caroline Studdert who normally so faithfully does it for us week in & week out!
Maundy Thursday – 21st April at 7.00pm – Sung Eucharist
On the evening of Maundy Thursday, we shall commemorate the Last Supper and the institution of what we know as Holy Communion or the Eucharist. At the end of the service, the altar will be stripped and we shall hear of how Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray to his Father in heaven.
Good Friday – 22nd April at 7.30pm – Service of the Word
A service of readings, prayers & hymns to reflect upon the passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Please note the different starting times of these two evening services. This is because our host congregation do not have a service on Maundy Thursday evening but do have an earlier service at 6.00pm on Good Friday evening.
Easter Day – Sunday 24th April at 11am – Sung Eucharist
Please join us to celebrate Jesus, risen from the dead! This will be my third Easter in Prague & if the past two are anything to go by, we will also be joined by many visitors spending a long weekend in Prague. The service will be followed by Coffee Hour in the hall on the third floor of Klimentská 18.
Advance Notice
Our next Ethics at Lunchtime, a joint event organized by St. Clement’s and the British Chamber of Commerce in the ČR, will be on Thursday 12th May at 12.30pm. It will take place in a new venue, the Monastery Restaurant, Augustine Hotel, Letenská 12/33, Mala Strana. The topic for discussion will be:
‘Are environmental care and profitable business mutually exclusive’
Everyone is welcome but each person will be responsible for paying the Monastery Restaurant for their own lunch (390CZK per person for a two course set menu including coffee, petit fours and one non-alcoholic beverage). This time the set menu will be Minted green pea soup with Prague Ham for starter and the main will be Ox Cheek braised in St. Thomas Beer and mashed potato. Registration for the event is via the BCC website
Has your child lost their gloves?
Caroline Studdert has handed me a colourful pair of children’s gloves decorated with the first five letters of the alphabet. They were left at Coffee Hour in Klimentská 18 a couple of weeks ago. If you think they belong to one of your offspring, please let me know. I shall have them with me on Sunday at Church.
With my best wishes for Holy Week & Easter
Ricky
