Dear People & Friends of St. Clement’s,
Thank you to everyone who came to worship last Sunday morning. It was good to see some old faces, back after the summer break, as well as a few new ones. Thank you too, to everyone who made our Sunday afternoon outing to Slavětín nad Ohří such a success, particularly Stephen Weeks & Gordon Truefitt for their organisation, and to Larry Leifeste for playing the Baroque organ with a pedal board that started on E instead of C :-) , for our 1662 service of Evening Prayer.
My sermon from last Sunday morning, is now up on the Church website where you can listen to once again, or for the first time if you weren’t in Church last Sunday ;-) Follow this link .
Now to look forward to this coming Sunday & the following week.
Sunday 20th September at 11.00 – Sung Eucharist for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity
As well as the responsive Psalm – Psalm 54, we will hear a further reading from the Letter of James – James 3. 13 – 4. 3 & 7-8 where he has more practical advice as to how we should live out our faith. Our Gospel reading will be Mark 9. 30-37 where Jesus once more tells his disciples what is to happen to him in Jerusalem and responds to an argument amongst the disciples as to which of them is the greatest. There will be parallel Children’s Ministry and Cool Drinks & Light Refreshments will be served at the back of Church, following worship.
This coming Sunday is quite significant for a number of reasons. It will mark the 7th anniversary of my time as Chaplain of St. Clement’s. Sybille and I arrived in Prague on Friday 19th September 2008 & I officiated at my first service on Sunday 21st September 2008. But it will also be the final service for Pastor Eva Halamová of our Czech host congregation as she is retiring. I and Rev’d Dr Karen Moritz, together with at least one other member of your Church Council, intend to attend the Czech service & make a presentation to her, to give thanks for the hospitality she & her congregation have given us over the past 13 years she has been their Pastor.
Then on Sunday afternoon, I will be off to Dresden, where I will be leading a service of Evening Prayer & preaching in the Frauenkirche at 18.00. This is in anticipation of me taking responsibility from January 2016, for the regular monthly English-language Anglican evening service that is held in the Frauenkirche. In case anyone is concerned, this will be at no cost to the Prague Anglican Chaplaincy as all my expenses for going to Dresden will be met by the German Protestant Church.
Tuesday 22nd September – 18.30-20.00 in the small meeting room on the first floor of Klimentská 18.
Our regular Tuesday evening meetings for Study and Fellowship continue looking at St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. My apologies for cancelling last Tuesday when I wasn’t feeling well & a couple of normal attendees had told me they couldn’t make it. As I said in a previous Weekly Message, the Church in Corinth was located in an international city and the congregation came from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds – not unlike St. Clement’s, Prague! Therefore I believe we can learn much by studying 1 Corinthians. As we normally do, the last 15-20 minutes will be spent saying Evening Prayer together. If the outside door of Klimentská 18 is locked, please press the bell marked Kancelář & you’ll be buzzed in!
Thursday 24th September – 19:00 chez Hellam, Namesti Interbrigady 949/3, Bubenec, between the Lotyšská and Zelená tram stops (currently routes 1 and 18).
The second evening of our Alpha Course. Alpha is for anyone who’s curious. The talks on video, are designed to encourage conversation and explore the basics of the Christian faith in a friendly, open and informal environment. No question is out of bounds and you are free to discuss as much or as little as you wish.
The format of the evening will be:
food – we’ll be preparing dinner for everyone, so let us know if you’re planning to come david(at)hellam(dot)net or 722 223 097
video – Is there more to life than this?
chat – short friendly discussion based on the talk in the video
Even if you missed tonight’s first session, you’ll still be welcome next Thursday evening. When you arrive – ring the buzzer for the flat marked Hellam!
Eastern Archdeaconry Synod
Last year, as many of you may remember, we hosted the Synod meeting in Prague. This year’s Synod meeting is taking place in Zagreb, between the late afternoon of Thursday 24th September & lunchtime on Sunday 27th September. I will attending, along with your two elected lay representatives, Gordon Truefitt and Jack Noonan. However, there will still be our regular Sung Eucharist at 11.00 on Sunday 27th September. Your preacher & celebrant on that occasion will be ThDr Petr Jan Vinš, a fluent English-speaking priest from the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic who has previously officiated at St. Clement’s. Please do make him welcome. A few more words of explanation will be in next week’s ‘Weekly’, which I’ll probably send out earlier, before setting out for Zagreb. Until then….
Best wishes
Ricky
