Dear People & Friends of St. Clements,
Just as I was about to start to write this ‘Weekly Message’ this morning, something unexpected was suddenly brought to my notice & requiring my immediate attention. As a result, this will have to be written in haste but I hope & pray I don’t miss anything out because of trying to write speedily!
This coming Sunday 20th March at 11am – Sung Eucharist for the Second Sunday of Lent.
Whilst in this current Church Year, most of our Gospel Readings on Sundays are taken from the Gospel of Matthew, on occasions parts of the Gospel of John are also slotted in. This coming Sunday is an example of this with the Gospel Reading being John 3. 1-17. It tells of Nicodemus who came to visit Jesus by night & of their conversation in which Jesus tells Nicodemus that he needs to be ‘born again’ or ‘born from above’.
There will not be any separate Children’s Ministry on Sunday & therefore the children will be in Church for the whole of the service. Accordingly, I will seek to make my preaching relate both to adults & children. The service will be followed by Coffee Hour in the hall on the third floor of Klimentská 18.
Lent Course
Our Lent Course got off to an excellent start last Tuesday evening when Rev’d Dr Karen Moritz, an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) who currently worships with us at St. Clement’s, spoke about What I believe and why? There were eight of us present and as a fascinating reflection of our congregation, we were eight different nationalities!
On Tuesday 22nd March between 6.30 – 8.00pm, using the small meeting room on the first floor of Klimentská 18 where Children’s Ministry & Church Council meetings take place, our second Lent Course evening will take place. Our speaker will be Jack Noonan from our own congregation & like Karen last week, he will speak under these five headings.
My Christian Tradition – the rock from whence I’m hewn
My Journey to Faith – hearing the quiet still voice
Moments of Crisis in my Faith – The dark night of the soul
The Place of Victory – I will lift up mine eyes
Ways Forward – Be thou my vision
There will be a time for questions & answers and the evening will finish with prayer and possibly singing the speaker’s favourite hymn. Do try & join us if you possibly can. There will be three further sessions on Tuesday 29th March, Tuesday 5th April & Tuesday 12th April which include speakers from Baptist & Roman Catholic traditions.
A reminder that our third ‘Ethics at Lunchtime‘ is happening next week
Ethics at Lunchtime
Jointly organised by St. Clement’s and the British Chamber of Commerce in the ČR, our next Ethics at Lunchtime event will take place on Thursday 24th March starting at 12.30pm and the subject for discussion will be “Is religious faith necessary in order to have ethical values in business?” Everyone is welcome but each person will be responsible for paying the Zinc Restaurant for their own lunch (390 CZK per person for a two course set menu including tea/coffee and petit fours). If you plan to attend, please register here no later than Tuesday 22nd March. Particularly if you work in central Prague, try and invite colleagues for what is always an excellent lunch and what promises to be a lively discussion.
The Annual Church Meeting will take place on Sunday 27th March 2011, immediately following our Sung Eucharist. There will be no Coffee Hour that morning. I shall put out another reminder next week but please note now that overnight between Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th March, all over Europe, the clocks go forward by one hour! Don’t be late for Church or the Annual Church Meeting!
The Church Electoral Roll as it currently stands, is displayed on the noticeboard at the back of Church. It is now closed until after the Annual Church Meeting as is required by the Church Representation Rules under which we operate.
Also on the noticeboard at the back of Church, there are forms for written nominations for
Two Churchwardens
Two lay representatives to the Archdeaconry Synod
The Churchwardens & the Lay Synod Reps are ex-officio members of the Church Council.
Up to nine additional places on the Church Council
All these positions are for one year, except for the lay reps to the Archdeaconry Synod which are for three years. All nominations have to be in writing before the commencement of the meeting and need a proposer, seconder & the consent of the candidate all of whom must be themselves members of the Church Electoral Roll.
According to the laws that govern the Church of England, it is the duty and function of the Church Council to ‘work in co-operation with the minister in promoting in the parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical’. Please think seriously who are suitable people to do this or whether you would be willing to play a part in the future running of St. Clements.
Up until now, Church Council meetings have normally taken place on Sundays after Coffee Hour or a Shared Lunch. Whilst the final decision will lie with the newly elected Church Council, several people have suggested moving the meetings to a two hour slot 19.00-21.00 on a weekday evening, providing we can find an evening that everybody agrees to. This should make life easier for Church Council members with young families by preserving Sunday for worship & time together as a family.
Czech Census
As I expect most of you that receive this message each week & who reside within the Czech Republic will already know, on the weekend of Saturday 26th – Sunday 27th March you will all be required to complete a census form. Despite staying home for four hours last Saturday as requested, Sybille’s & my census form has yet to be delivered! One question on the census will ask what your religious affiliation is. How you answer this is of course, entirely up to you – I can’t tell you what to write. However, if you answer ‘Anglican/Episcopalian’, or if you put down any other non-Czech denomination, then you will be counted as ‘Other’ or ‘Unknown’. It will not bring any benefit to us.
As many of you know, we legally function as the English-speaking parish of the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic or Farní obec Starokatolické Cirkve v ČR pro vĕřící anglického jazyka v Praze. This registration of our congregation with the Ministry of Culture gives us certain tax advantages & allows me to conduct a wedding without the need for a civil ceremony. If you put yourself down as Starokatolické Cirkve v ČR , it will be of overall benefit to the Old Catholic Church in the ČR under whose ‘umbrella’ we function. If you have any queries about this don’t be afraid to ask. However, as I say above, what you decide to answer on your census form is your own personal choice.
Best wishes
Ricky
