Dear People & Friends of St. Clement’s,

My message this week contains quite a lot of material, partly because I didn’t send one out last week! Therefore I’ve put things under four separate headings: –

Looking back – Looking forward – Two appeals for help – Several Reminders

Looking back

I hope those of you who have been present, have enjoyed our Sunday morning worship at St. Clements these last few weeks. I certainly have! Despite their being relatively few visitors at this time of year, we’ve consistently had over fifty in attendance and last Sunday, I had to consecrate additional wafers because of the higher number of communicants. Also last Sunday, Jack Noonan was our preacher and if you missed his sermon or if you want to listen to it again, it is now uploaded to our website and you can read &/or listen to it by clicking on this link. My sermon from the previous Sunday is also available to listen to by clicking on this link.

Last Sunday, Jack preached his sermon a second time as he travelled down to Brno with me for our monthly evening service in the second city of the Czech Republic. It was good to have his company for the journey down and back as well as to listen to him expounding part of Psalm 62.

I’ve also been very stimulated, – enjoyed wouldn’t be quite the right word – by our last two Tuesday evening studies & discussion on the Book of Job and addressing the deep issues of innocent suffering and the presence of evil in in our world. It has been a real challenge preparing for the evenings but I am most grateful to Matthew Moistner for suggesting that we tackle the topic.

Therefore…………..

Looking forward

Please join us once more for worship this coming Sunday 18th November at 11.00 – Sung Eucharist for the Second Sunday before Advent. There will be parallel Children’s Ministry but no Coffee Hour this week I’m afraid as our host congregation are having a congregational lunch following there Morning Service and want full use of the hall in Klimentská 18. This happens a couple of times a year & is one of a small number of downsides of us not owning our own place of worship. However, Sybille & I will be going out to eat in a nearby Bar-Restaurace following the service and invite anyone from the congregation to join us for lunch.

Then on Tuesday 20th November 18.30-20.00 – Midweek Study & Fellowship continues in the small meeting room on the first floor of Klimentská 18. We shall continue looking at the Book of Job and will be considering the second & third rounds of the debate between Job and his comforters Job 15. 1 – 27. 23. It is helpful to bring a Bible & to have read the passage in advance. Last week, our discussion benefited very much from the presence of a variety of different English translations of the original Hebrew text.

On Saturday 24th November at 11.00, there is an event, organised by David Vaughan from our congregation, to celebrate the life & work of Elizabeth Jane Weston ‘Westonia’, an English born poet who spent most of her life in Prague & during her lifetime was more famous for her poetry than Shakespeare! The event marks the 400th anniversary of her death and will be held St Thomas’s RC Church in Mala Strana where she is buried. Full details in English and Czech are to be found here.

Two appeals for help

I know that many people appreciate being able to listen to the sermons preached at St. Clement’s online on our website. This is only possible thanks to two people – David Hellam who sets up his technical wizardry before each service begins, and Sybille, who as webmaster, uploads the recording from a memory stick that David passes to her after the service is over. Unfortunately, we are missing three recent Sunday sermons simply because David, very unusually, wasn’t able to be present – a combination of work, then holiday & then illness in the Hellam family!

David would be very happy to train a couple of people to do what he does so that, on the relatively rare occasions he is not at St. Clement’s on future Sundays, the sermon can still be recorded. Clearly, it would help if you already have some knowledge of recording, sound systems & computers but David does promise to fully explain things to any willing volunteers. If you would be interested, please speak with me or David on Sunday or email David, david(at)hellam(dot)net .

My second appeal for help is one I’ve made previously but the issue was raised once more and discussed at the recent meeting of your Church Council and I was asked to write about it via my Weekly Message. It is simply this – please can members of the regular congregation try to be in Church by 11.00 so we can start the service on time!

Sometimes, we cannot avoid starting a little late, particularly if our host congregation don’t finish until 10.45 instead of around 10.30 as they more commonly do. And sometimes our regular organist Professor Michal Novenko, is slightly delayed as he comes from playing for another service elsewhere. But when Michal does start playing his variation on the tune of the first hymn, it really would be nice if all the congregation was present and seated and using the musical prelude to prepare themselves for worship. Sometimes just before 11.00 the majority of the congregation present are visitors!

Several reminders

Firstly, to help others, don’t forget the two red wheelie bins at the back of Church in which we are collecting tinned food and warm winter clothing, in particular, hats, scarves, gloves, socks and underwear, for both men & women. Everything collected will help the Salvation Army in their work with homeless men & women in Prague. And a quick note of thanks to all those who contributed their Billa stickers for soft toys. Alan Schmidt took the collecting envelope last Sunday to pass on to the organiser of the collection at International Church of Prague.

Secondly, to help those who help us, don’t forget to save your used postage stamps and put them in the collecting envelope on the noticeboard at the back of Church. Leave all stamps on the envelope and cut or tear them off leaving about a 5mm border. The only used stamps that are not wanted are British ones that only bear the Queen’s head as they are worth very little because they are so common. These used stamps are sold to collectors and the money raised supports the work of the Intercontinental Church Society (ICS) who so faithfully support us both prayerfully and financially.

Thirdly, to help St Clement’s directly, don’t forget our St. Clement’s Polo Shirts CZK 500 which could make an ideal Christmas present for someone you know, especially if they’ve previously visited you in Prague. Then we still have Christmas cards with English text CZK 200 for a pack of ten cards. Both are for sale at the back of Church each Sunday. The proceeds from the sale of both polo shirts and Christmas cards, go directly to financially support the work of St. Clements.

And finally, if you are ordering anything from either Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com, don’t forget to do so via our link which at no extra cost to you, will also give St. Clements a small commission on everything you purchase via our link.

That’s more than enough from me for this week!

Best wishes

Ricky